THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENT
by J7339
Summary: A Christmas story for SeaQuest. FINALLY FINISHED AND ONLY 4 MONTHS LATE !!!!!!!!!
1. Default Chapter

THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENT  
  
Authors Notes: I know absolutely squat about the snow, skiing or anything like that. Most of what I have written is totally made up or from what I have seen on TV and the movies. My Christmas day will be about 46 Celsius so I will be spending most of it in my swimming pool with a beer in hand.  
  
You will just have to bear with me and believe some of the little things I have put into the story such as the poor state of Lucas's wardrobe. Besides, I never saw him any more than three or four outfits the whole time the show was running anyway.  
  
Thank you to Chance who kindly helped out a little with the geography between Pearl Harbour and Aspen Colorado.  
  
and now the story..........  
  
Captain Nathan Bridger was in his quarters trying to figure out what he was going to get Kristen and Lucas for Christmas. As usual he had left everything until five days to go when the shops were just so crowded and the lines seemed endless. He swore that the reason most shopping centres were open until midnight on the last week before December 25 was because that's how long would be waiting in some of the queues.  
  
Kristen was the easiest to buy for. Something luxurious like jewellery or a bottle of a very fine perfume. But Lucas was just that bit harder to buy for. Sure there was computer equipment and miles of software that he had been hinting at for months now, but somehow that just didn't seem to cut it this year. This year Bridger wanted to get the teenager something different. Something that he would remember until the next Christmas.  
  
Bridger's train of thought was interrupted by a knock at his door. At first he suspected it would be Lucas, snooping around or trying to give a hint as to want he would like. He was mildly surprised though when he said "Open" and Lieutenant Ben Krieg stuck his dark head around the door.  
  
"Hello Sir" Ben said, looking around the room to make sure that nobody else was in the room. To be more precise he wanted to make sure that Lucas wasn't anywhere nearby or likely to walk in during the next ten minutes or so while he talked to Bridger.  
  
"Hi Ben, come on in, something troubling you?" Bridger asked casually but trying to gauge the younger man's mood. It wasn't very often that Krieg came up to the door to his quarters just for a chit chat. There had to be something more to his visit.  
  
"Have you got a few minutes to talk Sir?" Krieg now said, checking the corridor for a second to make sure that no one was coming. He then entered Bridger's quarters and closed the door behind him. He even went to the trouble of locking the door for a few seconds. Still paranoid about Lucas walking in on their conversation.  
  
"Sure what's on your mind?" Bridger now asked, frowning a little at Krieg locking his door and thinking the whole thing was a little unorthodox. He waited for Ben to explain himself before he started saying anything.  
  
"It's about Lucas sir...." Ben started to say. "Well it's kinda coming up to the holidays and the festive season and I just thought that we could...." he then continued and paused again.  
  
"What about Lucas? He has been hinting at what he wants for Christmas since about July" Bridger now said jokingly.  
  
"That's just it Sir, I don't think Lucas has much sense of what the Christmas spirit is all about. I mean his parents never had any sort of celebration with him from what he tells us. A few of us were talking a day or two ago about what we were doing with our families. At first the kid sounded real excited, talking about the decorations and shopping for presents and that. But when he started talking about spending time with family and being there for each other, well that when he started to feel a little left out I think." Ben now explained, recalling the group discussion that had taken place in the mess hall.  
  
"I see your point Lieutenant, but what's your suggestion to fix the problem?" Bridger now asked, knowing that Ben wouldn't have come forward with the information if he didn't have a solution in mind.  
  
"Well, I would really like to go all out for the kid this year Sir. You know, party, cake, decorations, a Christmas tree with all the trimming, food, presents, a snowman, Santa Claus and his elves, the works. He deserves to have the best that kid. He gives so much to others I thought it was time that we gave him something back in return." Ben now said revealing just how much he adored Lucas.  
  
"A snowman huh? In Pearl Harbour?" Bridger said with a chuckle as he tried to think how long a snowman would last in the tropical weather outside. "You know I think your right though Lieutenant. I have been sitting here for an hour now trying to rack my brains about what to do for Lucas for Christmas. I think you may have just hit the nail right on the head and given me an idea."  
  
"Really?" Ben asked with hopefulness. He knew if he had the support of the Captain that whatever they planned for Lucas would be terrific. "How about you leave it with me for a few hours and I will come up with something."  
  
"Thanks sir, I appreciate your help with this. I just want to do something special" Ben now said as he unlocked the door. "It's Christmas Sir" Ben said on his way out knowing that the Captain knew what he meant.  
  
Bridger smiled after the Lieutenant had left. No matter how slack he may become occasionally when performing his regular duties or how unorthodox his methods, Ben's heart was certainly in the right place when it came to Lucas.  
  
Bridger now made an outgoing video-link call to Admiral Bill Noyce, to help out with the surprise.  
  
"So you see Bill I need you to pull a few strings for me and get a few days off for some of my crew. I am going to talk to Lucas in a minute and see what other plans he has for the holidays just in case, but I don't think he would have planned anything and I know the Wolenczak's won't even give him a thought." the Captain said to his old navy friend.  
  
"Hmmm, you said you want somewhere with snow Nathan" Bill now asked, quite shocked that Bridger was suggesting to take some of his crew on holiday. Bridger had already told Bill that he would be footing the bill for it. "The leave won't be a problem. All of you have had a long tour anyway and deserve some time off. Give me a few hours to work out the other part and I will get back to you by this afternoon."  
  
No matter where they finally decided to go, that many people going on holiday all at once anywhere would cost a small fortune. But Bridger assured Noyce that he not only had the cash ready but was more than willing to spend what was necessary and a bit more just for Lucas's sake. It never ceased to amaze Noyce to what ends Nathan was prepared to go for that boy.  
  
"Thanks Bill" Nathan said and terminated the link. Time now to go and just make sure that Lucas didn't have any plans of his own for the holidays that nobody knew about.  
  
At first Bridger walked onto the Bridge, thinking that the teenager might be helping out there. He couldn't see him anywhere though and Commander Ford confirmed that he hadn't seen Lucas all morning when the Captain asked about him.  
  
Next Bridger tried Lucas's quarters. He could hear something playing on the computer screen inside but couldn't quite pick whether it was a computer game or not. It really sounded like Lucas was talking to somebody. Bridger politely knocked on the door, respecting the boy's privacy. He knocked a second time even, but Lucas didn't seem to hear. Bridger threw caution to the wind and gently opened the door.  
  
Lucas's attention was somewhere else when Bridger was knocking on the door. He had just received a video message from his father. He had just finished rewinding and fast forwarding the message over and over again, until the words that his father spoke were echoing in his head. He pressed the pause button to freeze it were it hurt the most. He turned around in haste as he heard the door to his quarters open. He hadn't heard anybody knock and when he saw the Captain, he quickly used his sleeve to wipe away the tears in an effort to hide them.  
  
"Hey, are you okay?" Bridger now said in a soft voice as he sat on a chair opposite the teenager. He had seen the startled reaction when the teenager turned around and felt a little guilty about his unannounced appearance. But tears running down Lucas's face was the last thing he expected him to see. He now looked towards the paused screen in front of him and saw that Lucas's father Lawrence was in the middle of saying something.  
  
Lucas didn't say anything, he pressed the pause button to unfreeze the frame and let the tape keep running so that the Captain could hear the words he had heard a thousand times by now:  
  
"Sorry I can't be there for the Christmas Holidays son. There has just been so much come up at work lately that I cannot afford to let anything else distract me at the moment. But I hear that you are doing fine. I promise to make it up to you. I'll e-mail you again before Xmas day if I can son."  
  
Lucas pressed the pause button again and then looked directly at Bridger "That was supposed to be my Christmas present" he said fighting to hold back the tears again. They were both from the sadness of being left alone yet again and from the frustration that he felt because he thought he would be over such things now. The same excuses had been given every year, the same emotionless messages had been sent. He thought he would be able to handle it now. But somehow the pain never entirely went away.  
  
Bridger opened his mouth to say something but then promptly shut it again. He was going to say that the teenager should just ignore it and it would all go away, but looking at the sullen and tear-stained face before him, he couldn't even believe those words.  
  
"Don't I matter anymore?" Lucas said bitterly but then remembered that he couldn't think of a time when he had ever mattered to his parents.  
  
"You matter to me" Bridger now said, gently putting his hands on the boy's shoulders so he had his full attention. "You can't imagine how much you mean to me. To everybody else on this boat. I don't know what to say about your parents. It burns me up inside to hear them say that you don't come first in their lives. But you definitely mean something to me kiddo" he repeated with emphasis.  
  
"Thanks Captain, I don't know why I let them keep getting to me like that" Lucas now said, voicing his earlier silence thought. "I mean Christmas is a time to spend together isn't it?"  
  
"You leave all that to me Lucas" Bridger now said with determination. He was going to take Ben's suggestion and go all out this year for Lucas. "If you trust me I promise to make this the best damn Christmas you ever had. Get the senior crew together in about half an hour and I will bring Kristen. We are going to celebrate the holidays in style Lucas." he said triumphantly, giving the teenager a brief embrace before leaving the room to see what Noyce had managed to come up with.  
  
Half and hour later Lucas had managed to tell Commander Ford, Miguel Ortiz, Tim O'Neill and Katie Hitchcock that the Captain was having a meeting in the Ward Room. All were curious to know what the meeting was about but Lucas decided it was best for Bridger to explain the idea he had.  
  
Lucas had no idea of the grand scale of the idea that Ben and the Captain were organizing. He thought that there was possibly going to be a party aboard the ship.  
  
The five of them had already assembled in the Ward room as asked and were now idling chatting about what the Captain's idea for the holidays might be. As is on cue, Bridger, Kristen and Ben now walked into the room with the biggest smiles on their faces.  
  
Katie couldn't help but be a little suspicious about Ben's involvement in all of this. She had been married to the guy after all and the smile he had plastered all over his face right now was the one that said he was pretty impressed with himself. Of course it wasn't often that Ben wasn't impressed or pleased with himself over something.  
  
Bridger now sat down beside Lucas, making the meeting more into an informal discussion. He put a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder, still able to see a little sadness in his eyes.  
  
"What's this great idea Lucas says you have about the Christmas holiday's Captain?" Ortiz now asked on behalf of everybody else in the room.  
  
Bridger could see Ben just about bursting at the seams beside him to let the cat out of the bag. "I talked to Admiral Noyce this morning and I have arranged it so that everybody here in this room now has a ten day paid vacation." he then said, waiting for it to sink in until he explained fully what was going on.  
  
"Fully paid, all of us?" Tim O'Neill now said in surprise. You could literally see the numbers ticking over in his head as he tried to work how much that amounted to in monetary terms.  
  
"You mean the U.E.O. is going to pay us to go on holidays for ten days Captain?" Ford now spoke up, carrying the same amount of dubiousness as O'Neill at first. It was the first time he had ever heard such a thing happening in all the time he had been in the navy.  
  
"No Commander, unfortunately they are not that generous. They are giving you all the ten days off. I am the one paying for the vacation." he now said and knew what was about to happen.  
  
"Captain Sir you can't do that" Ortiz now said "We can't allow you to pay for all of us to go away on holidays for that long. It's way to much money for you to spend."  
  
"You just leave the money side of things to me Mr Ortiz. I am paying for this vacation and that's final. You are all going whether you like it or not and you are all going to enjoy yourselves, understood?" he said in mock sternness.  
  
Lucas was the only one in the room not saying anything. Kristen had been told about the Captain's plans along with Ben and both of them had been overwhelmed that Bridger intended to pay for the lot of them to go away.  
  
When he explained how he had found Lucas in his room with the message from his dad, both of them had almost lost control about how Lucas's parents treated him. When the Captain then said that he wanted to see to it that Lucas had the best Christmas ever, Kristen and Ben no longer had any qualms about the idea and actively worked together to make the dream a reality.  
  
"You really want to do this for us....I mean for me too Captain?" Lucas now said in a quiet voice, scarcely believing that this was happening to him.  
  
"Yes of course for you silly. This is mostly for you. My Christmas present to the rest of you" Bridger said looking up and smiling at the rest of the crew around the room "But especially for you" he said now looking back at Lucas. "I know I can't make up for all of the Christmases you missed Lucas, but I want to open your eyes to the world of sharing and giving at this time of the year. When only family and friends should matter and all else is left behind."  
  
"We don't know what to say Captain" Ford said honestly as they were all dumb-struck by the magnitude of the man's generosity. "I don't think any of us could come up with the words to thank you. Can you tell us where we are going?"  
  
"Sure Commander. It was Mr Krieg's idea actually since Lucas hasn't seen snow before" Bridger now said. He looked towards the teenager who still had a look of unbelievable on his face. He nodded his head at the comment about not having seen snow before. He had seen it on the movies and T.V. a lot but had never seen the real thing.  
  
"We are all off to the cold snowy slopes of Aspen Colorado for five days or more of fun-filled adventure. There will be mountain trekking, skiing and snow boarding plus lots lots more" Bridger now said, revealing the holiday package that he had been able to put together.  
  
"Wow" was the only word that escaped Katie's lips. "I have wanted to go to Aspen since I was a little girl. Ben and I even had plans to go there after we got married but it didn't happen for some reason" she said, smiling genuinely at her ex-husband as she remembered that once upon a time they had been happy, even if it was only for a short time. There was still no hiding that both deeply cared for each other.  
  
"I've never lived anywhere cold enough for snow" Miguel now admitted, having spent the majority of his childhood in the southern half of America.  
  
"I am sure we will all have a marvellous time" Kristen now said, trying to hide her own girlhood excitement about going to the snow. True she had seen snow before back in England, yearly too. But she had never spent a holiday in places where they skied for fun and recreation.  
  
"But I don't even know how to ski Captain" Lucas now said a little embarrassed at his admittance.  
  
"That's alright Lucas, you can have lessons when we get there. They specialise in things like that. The resort that I chose has specific classes for beginners in all snow activities right up to advanced course if people feel they are up to it." Bridger explained.  
  
"I still don't know how to say thankyou" Lucas now said with a smile of gratitude.  
  
"Just as long as you promise me you will have fun and enjoy yourself Lucas, that will be thanks enough" Bridger said in reply. He meant every word of it too. There was nothing more worthwhile than seeing the teenager happy for a change and actually having fun at something that wasn't forced upon him.  
  
"I promise." Lucas now said. "When do we leave and how are we going to get there?" Lucas now asked, a little concerned suddenly that the Captain might be considering flying to this resort.  
  
"Well firstly there is a flight from Honolulu Airport to Aspen. Sardy Field to be exact and then there is a four hour drive by car from the airstrip to the resort. The flight leaves tomorrow and takes a full twelve hours. We will have to spend a night in a hotel when we get to Sardy Field because the conditions will be getting to darker and the road will be slippery." Bridger now explained.  
  
"If we get an early start the next morning we should be there by mid- morning. I have organized a short trek around the resort for the afternoon with one of the guides as kind of a tour. I rented two vehicles for when we arrive at the air-strip. I figured you, me, Ben and Kristen could go in one. You others can go with Commander Ford and company."  
  
"You mean in the morning as in tomorrow morning?" Lucas now said not expecting the holiday to be starting so quickly. The other thing about the trip was the flight. He had never really been on any long distance flight before and he wasn't exactly sure how he would handle it. He didn't have the heart to open up his mouth and say anything to the Captain about his fear. He would just battle it out as best he could. Bridger had gone to a lot of trouble organizing this holiday and he felt as though he would be letting everybody else down if he tried to chance the plans now.  
  
"Yes tomorrow morning unless you want to wait another couple of days to start this vacation." Bridger said with a grin. "Now go start packing a bag" he said  
  
"But I don't even own any skiing gear." Lucas now stated matter-of-factly. He didn't think any of the crew would own such gear having spent the majority of their year on board an underwater submarine.  
  
"That's okay, we can use the day after we get to the resort as a shopping day. We can get a tree and decorations and all the skiing gear we need for everybody. Aspen itself is about 12 miles from the resort so it's close enough to get everything. I don't own any gear either so we can go together." Bridger now said.  
  
The excitement had just started to show on Lucas as he thought of what lay ahead over the next few days. He got up and gave a boyish smile to all in the room before hurrying off like a five year old out the door and hurrying down to his room.  
  
The crew all looked on as the teenager scurried out the room. All of them couldn't help but notice how much his spirits seemed to have lifted in only a few minutes.  
  
"Gee, I hope he stays this happy all the time we are away" Tim O'Neill now said out loud. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.  
  
"We all have Ben to thank too because most of this was his idea" Bridger now said looking towards that man right now.  
  
"After what that kid has been through Captain...." Ben now said as his happiness for Lucas seemed to cloud over as soon as he thought of the Wolenczak's. "I swear Captain....." he said knowing that he didn't really have any hateful words to say out loud.  
  
Bridger could see the confused expression on the faces of the other crew members and now went into details about what he had seen in Lucas's quarters with Lawrence's message. The same things he had told Kristen and Ben a short time ago. It was no secret that Lucas's childhood had been less than a happy one but there always seemed to be another dark secret to the teenager that they all never knew about.  
  
"That's why I wanted to talk to you all after Lucas left just now" Bridger now explained. He went into details with the remainder of the crew about how Lucas had never really experienced Christmas the way it should be. "I want you guys to help out with the celebrations as much as you can. Let go for a while and forget you are all in the military. I want you to be nothing else but Lucas's friends during this holiday. Money is not an issue here. I will spend whatever it takes to see that kid smiling every day of this trip."  
  
"You got out support that's for sure Captain. Just tell us what and when you want us to do it and we will be there. I don't think you need to explain to us how much Lucas means to you. He means almost as much to us as well. We wouldn't have gotten half of the work done with the systems this year without his help. But there more to it than that with Lucas sir." Commander Ford started to say.  
  
"Yeah your right Jonathan" Katie Hitchcock now said "It doesn't matter what is going on the boat on a given day or what he has planned. There hasn't been a day go by this year that Lucas hasn't asked if he was able to help out somewhere.  
  
"He always puts his own needs aside for others" Miguel now admitted, noting how many times he had Lucas helping him out. "Maybe we are not much better in that department than his parents."  
  
"And he never asks for anything in return either" Tim O'Neill said. "He never waits for somebody to say thanks or give him praise."  
  
"So then, it's agreed" Bridger now said now pleased that everybody was so willing to help out to get Lucas having a little fun this Christmas. "We all give him the time of his life and have a great time too. Let's go and get organized then people."  
  
**************************************************************************** *****  
  
The next morning, everybody was up bright and early because most of them hadn't been able to sleep because of the excitement and anticipation.  
  
Lucas had put his bag together last night as was now wearing a pair of dress shorts and a shirt for the plane. They all had been alerted to the fact that the trip would get colder as the day wore on and they got closer to the snowfields. Lucas only owned one tracksuit and one thin sweater. The sweater was a few years old now and had seen better days. It was a couple of sizes too small by now as well but Lucas put it in his bag anyway. It was all he had. He had a little money of his own to buy a new one when they got to the snow.  
  
The trip by taxi to the Honolulu airport was a noisy one with chattering going on between all of the crew about what they were going to be doing once they go to the snow fields. Even Lucas was joining in with the excitement. He still had a smile on his face from when he first knock on the Captain's door this morning.  
  
Kristen had whispered to Bridger how great he was doing this for the crew as well as Lucas. It had been some time since she had seen such a sparkle in the boy's eyes. Even his laughter was that of an excited little boy waiting for Santa Claus to come on Christmas Eve.  
  
A few minutes to go before they boarded the plane. All of the luggage had been checked in and was already being loaded into the cargo bay of the jet. The crew were now all sitting outside the checking in gates waiting for their flight to be called for boarding.  
  
It was about now that a uncertain feeling began to settle into the pit of Lucas's stomach. He was standing out looking through the large glass windows at the plane that would be taking them to Aspen. He could see lots of small people running around on the ground, doing the last minutes checks before the passengers were allowed to get on. He swallowed hard to stop the feeling of uneasiness from growing any more.  
  
"Are you okay?" Kristen now asked as she walked over to the teenager. She had been observing him for the last ten minutes or so and had noticed a decided change in his mood after they had entered the airport terminal building. She could see Lucas's hands deep in the pockets of his shorts, trying to hide his apprehensiveness.  
  
"Yeah I am fine" he said trying his best to convince her. The slight paleness of his face however told Kristen just how not fine Lucas was.  
  
Kristen promised herself to keep a close eye on him once they boarded the plane. She whispered her concerns to Bridger as the crew started walking down the corridor to the plane itself. He nodded in acknowledgement of what she was saying. Neither of them had guessed that Lucas might find flying a little nerve-racking.  
  
Once they all entered the plane, Lucas told Bridger and Kristen that he preferred an aisle seat. He knew that he didn't need to look out of the window and see how high up they were. So with three seats in each row, Kristen took the window seat, Bridger the middle one and Lucas the aisle seat.  
  
The rest of the crew had settled themselves into their own seats and were beginning to relax and enjoy the atmosphere. Bridger looked over at Lucas's stony faced expression as they waited for the plane's engines to start up. Lucas hands were holding onto the armrests so tightly they were almost white at the knuckles.  
  
"Try and relax kiddo. It's going to be fun okay." Bridger now said as he tried to reassure the nervous young man.  
  
"Sure" Lucas said in reply. If I could only get my stomach to stop doing somersaults he told himself.  
  
Lucas's thought was suddenly drowned out by the sound of the engines roaring into life. They got louder and louder he found himself putting his hands over his ears to block out some of the vibration.  
  
About twenty minutes later the plane had taken off and was now winging it's way towards the snow fields of Colorado. The take off hadn't been quite as bad as Lucas expected it to be.  
  
The trip however was a long one for Lucas. Some of the other crew who were used to flying more regularly had managed to get some sleep during the journey. Even Kristen and the Captain and Kristen had managed to nod off about five or six hours into the flight. Lucas however just couldn't seem to get himself to relax enough to fall asleep no matter how hard he tried. His nerves were still too much on edge.  
  
Lucas soon found he was the only one awake at the moment. And he was grateful for that because the nauseous feeling that he had started out with this morning was now coming back and becoming more noticeable. He was glad they hadn't served anything to eat yet because he just couldn't bear the sight of food at the moment. He had managed to drink about half a cup of water about an hour ago but even that wasn't sitting very easy in this insides at the moment.  
  
Looking through Kristen's window he could see that the thin translucent clouds they had flown into shortly after take-off had now disappeared. Now all he could see was thick fluffy, dark grey clouds that made it impossible to see anymore than two metres or so past the wing. He assumed that this was his first look at snow clouds.  
  
And with the increase in cloud and the decrease in temperature outside came another new experience for Lucas: turbulence. Although he could see it because of the clouds, there was a lot of wind blowing in and around the clouds at the moment. It was these forces that kept bringing the clouds together and making them bigger and more dense. The more oxygen that entered the air space the plane was flying in, soon small air pockets began to form. These air pockets started to make the plane jump about slightly and this did not help Lucas's nauseousness at all.  
  
After half an hour of the bumpy ride was all he could stand. He sighed in relief that he had decided to take the aisle seat. That decision now made it easier for him to slip to the bathroom without being noticed. He closed the door he sat down inside the small cubicle and waited for the inevitable to happen.  
  
Unfortunately for Lucas though, Bridger and Kristen had awoken from their lengthy nap before the teenager returned from the bathroom. Both of them looked at each other for a moment, their eyes asking where he had gotten to. By this time a few of the other crew members had also been gently awoken by the slight rocking motion of the plane.  
  
Bridger looked up at the sound of someone walking along the corridor to see a very white and waxy faced Lucas rejoin them in his seat. It didn't take a genius to work out by looking at his complexion that Lucas had lost the contents of his stomach in the bathroom. All of them felt sorry for him as they gazed on his pitiful expression but thought the kid could be spared the embarrassment of making his sickness public to everybody.  
  
"Are you okay?" Bridger now asked gently, knowing that it sounded like a stupid question to begin with.  
  
"No, I want to get off this merry-go-round please" was the short reply he got as Lucas now lay back against the head rest of his seat and closed his eyes. They knew he wasn't asleep. Only trying to stop his stomach from protesting again at the turbulence they were still experiencing.  
  
"Here Lucas" Kristen now said as she reached into her bag and pulled out a small brownish looking tablet. "It's a ginger tablet. Very good for stopping motion sickness" she explained to him.  
  
At first Lucas was a bit wary of taking it. Even though it was meant to help settle his stomach, he scarcely dared to put anything into his stomach at the moment. When he did swallow it, he did so without water to wash it down. The taste wasn't that unpleasant he told himself as he tasted the residual grains that were left behind on his tongue.  
  
Lucas was surprised about fifteen minutes later when the nauseousness seemed to settle down considerably due to the ginger based remedy. The feeling wasn't totally gone, but it was a hell of a lot more bearable now that it had been a short while ago.  
  
By the time the pilot's voice came over the loud speaker advising the passengers that they were about to land, the turbulence had even stopped. When the crew looked out the windows to the ground below, the only colour they could see was a white blanket of snow. It was very different from the ocean of water they were used to seeing but very beautiful all the same.  
  
The crew quickly changed into some warmer clothes before they landed. They were told that the conditions were a lot cooler now than they had first been when they left Honolulu.  
  
The crew walked off the plane feeling a little tired from such a long flight. Lucas however felt like his arms and legs would never work again. He was very tired to say the least and the vomiting he had done had taken a lot of energy out of him. He could barely keep his eyes open.  
  
Bridger could see the slumped shoulder and the fatigue in the boy's eyes. It wasn't exactly the perfect start he had planned for their holiday, but hopefully after a good night's rest Lucas would be back to his normal good natured self.  
  
The crew did whatever they could and offered to get all the luggage when it was ready while the Captain and Kristen hailed two taxi cabs to take them all to their motel for the night.  
  
The change in temperature was definitely more noticeable as soon as the main doors to the terminal opened. Lucas and the others were grateful for the merger warmth that their clothes offered and were even more thankful for the heater inside the cabs themselves.  
  
With the steady movement of the taxi-cab and the warmth coming from the heater inside the car, Lucas struggled even more to stay awake at the moment. With the little sleep he had gotten the night before and the sleep he hadn't gotten on board the plane, the tiredness was slowly catching up with him.  
  
Bridger couldn't help but smile at the sleepy teenager as they travelled to the motel and didn't object at all when he felt Lucas's head rest against his shoulder.  
  
Thankfully though Lucas hadn't been able to doze off into a very deep sleep before the cab pulled up outside their motel for the night. Bridger could already see the two rental vehicles parked outside, ready for their start to the snow field tomorrow.  
  
With a gentle shake, Lucas was woken sufficiently to get him to walk under his own power. Kristen went and organized the check-in and collection of room keys whilst everyone else unloaded the luggage from the taxis.  
  
"Come on junior, time for a nice long rest before we travel in the morning huh?" Bridger now said as he followed Lucas into the room Kristen had just unlocked.  
  
"I'm just happy to have my feet on solid ground" Lucas replied. "I hope we don't have to fly again any time soon." he then asked, making it sound more like pleading than a statement.  
  
The Captain had paid for the rental of two rooms: Kristen, Ben and Lucas would share with him whilst the rest of the crew shared the other room. Both were spacious enough inside and fully self contained. There was a small refrigerator inside as well as a microwave in case they didn't feel much like dining out anywhere.  
  
"How about everybody store their luggage and I will make some nice hot chocolate and we can all meet in this room to have a nice quiet chat before dinner?" Kristen suggested.  
  
The other crew members nodded their heads in agreement and went to throw their luggage into their room and refresh themselves a little after the long journey.  
  
Lucas went a bit further than that in the other room and decided a nice long hot shower was what he needed to at least bring him back to life a little. He pulled off his track suit and folded it neatly and placed it on the bed, knowing that he had to take care of it until he could get to the shops and buy himself a second one.  
  
Bridger relaxed on the couch in the room whilst Kristen went about making her world famous hot chocolate. Both looked up to see Lucas emerge from the bedroom with still damp hair clinging to his forehead.  
  
Kristen frowned a little at the sight of the track suit that Lucas had worn earlier that day and the sweater that was now worn over the top of it. Although the room was comfortably heated at the moment, the clothes the teenager was wearing didn't look as though they would keep much cold out once they were outside in the open elements.  
  
"Lucas is that the only sweater you own?" Kristen now asked, trying not to sound to alarmed at how low his wardrobe seemed to be. She couldn't help but notice that the sweater looked about two sizes too small as well.  
  
"Yeah" Lucas admitted, not knowing how to avoid the question. "I haven't really had much need to buy warm clothes whilst living on SeaQuest" he said trying to use logic to avoid the topic as much as possible.  
  
Bridger and Kristen exchanged worried glances at each other without Lucas seeing them and knew that what clothes the kid had would never last the entire trip and wouldn't keep out much of the cold either. The Captain went into his own bedroom and grabbed out one of his larger and spare sweaters. When he reached the living room again he tossed it at the teenager, engulfing the kid in an avalanche of polyester.  
  
Lucas pulled the garment away from his face for a minute and then smiled sheepishly "Thanks" was all he could find the words to say. He pulled off his old one and replaced it with the luxurious one that Bridger had thrown at him. It was way to big but that suited Lucas just fine. He snuggled into the rolls of warmth and drank in the Captain's scent that lingered in the strands of wool from many years of use.  
  
"Here you go, this will warm you up from the inside" Kristen now said as she passed a mug of hot chocolate to Lucas before the others arrived. Lucas took the cup and sipped at the delicious sweet liquid letting it drizzle down his throat.  
  
Kristen handed one to Bridger and then got one for herself and the three of them sat drinking in silence for a few minutes.  
  
"That's the best I have ever tasted Kristen" Lucas said as he smacked his lips to get the last of the taste that was left. "My stomach isn't even protesting at all now." he said easing their fears about whether he was still feeling sick from the plane flight.  
  
Lucas now positioned himself lengthways on the couch with his feet up near the arm-rest. Bridger was seated at the other end. He had about a quarter of the space, Lucas about three- quarters.  
  
When they had first arrived Lucas had been dead on his feet, but the long hot shower had rejuvenated him to a certain extent up until now. Now with the warmth from the sweater Bridger had given him, the effects of the hot chocolate in his stomach and the calming atmosphere he found himself in, it wasn't long before his eyelids began to droop again from tiredness.  
  
Kristen was about to point out the sleepy teenager to Bridger when the boy's head fell softly against his shoulder as it had done in the cab. This time though the boy was fully asleep, still holding the empty mug.  
  
"I think he has had a very tiring day" Kristen now said as she gently took the mug from Lucas's sleep limp hand. The teenager looked so peaceful and calm at the moment while he slept. As though he didn't have a care in the whole world.  
  
When Kristen returned from putting the mugs in the kitchen, she held brought back a blanket and pillow from the bedroom. "How do you want to work this?" she asked, knowing that Bridger's arm would become numb after a while.  
  
"You hold him upright for a moment and I will move." Bridger now said. Together they did just that and allowed the Captain to move out from underneath the sleeping boy without disturbing him. Once Bridger was free they placed the pillow underneath his head and the draped the blanket over him for extra warmth. Even though it was warm inside, the weather report had already predicted a cold night ahead.  
  
Both of the stood looking down at the sleeping boy for a minute, wondering how they got to be so lucky to have somebody special as Lucas. Their train of thought was interrupted by knock at the front door.  
  
As expected, it was the rest of the crew. Kristen held her fingers to her lips as they came in and pointed to the sleeping bundle on the couch. All of them laughed softly at the sight of Lucas sleeping.  
  
"He's out for the count already" Ben said a little disappointed that Lucas was awake to join in with them. But there was plenty more nights ahead he reminded himself. He had been a little worried about the teenager when he saw how sick and pale looking he had been on the plane. Now at least his colour looked normal again and he looked nice and cosy snuggled up under the blanket.  
  
"Yes, he is really tired." Kristen said in reply. "Nathan we have to get that boy some more clothes in the morning before we leave for the snow fields. That track suit he owns is certainly not warm enough." Kristen whispered to the others about Lucas's poor winter wardrobe and how he had not wanted to be a burden and speak up about not having anything warmer to wear through the holidays.  
  
"It's already taken care of " Bridger said as he sipped at a second cup of hot chocolate. Kristen and the others left it at that, knowing that the Captain was very in tune with what Lucas's needs were. He wasn't about to let the kid go without anything. It would all be sorted out.  
  
The crew enjoyed Kristen's hot chocolate and talked idly about what was going to happen the next day when they reached the snowfields. It wasn't a particularly late night because they were all a little weary from their journey.  
  
Kristen had made a few rounds of sandwiches for everybody so they had a least something to eat. She left a few in the fridge for Lucas in the morning. The kid had gone all day without much to eat due to his nauseousness but they would have to try and get him to eat sufficiently tomorrow before they left in the car.  
  
Bridger and Ben had been able to successfully move the slumbering teenager to his bed without waking him. By 10.00pm all lights were out and everybody was sleeping soundly in their motel beds and that's how they remained all night.  
  
**************************************************************************** ********  
  
The next morning, Bridger groaned out loud when he woke up and found the clock to be reading only 6:30am. His body clock still had to work out that he was in holiday mood. He looked over next to him and saw that Kristen was still enjoying her sleep in.  
  
May as well get up he said to himself knowing that he was not going to be able to go back to sleep in a hurry. He walked to the kitchen to put the kettle on to boil for a cup of coffee. Although he was wearing a track suit, he soon felt cool enough to go back to his room and find his bath robe and slippers.  
  
While he was waiting for the kettle to boil he poked his head into the room next to his and Kristen's. It had two single beds in it and this had been where Ben and Lucas's slept for the night. Bridger couldn't help but smile at the sight before him.  
  
The two beds were completely the opposite. Ben was all the way underneath his blankets so not even a strand of his black hair was protruding from them. Bridger now turned to look at the other single bed in the room.  
  
At some stage during the night Lucas had entangled himself in the sheets and then due to his perpetual restlessness, they had landed upon the floor where they now laid. Although the teenager wasn't shivering like Bridger thought he might have been without the warmth, but his skin was cool to touch as he touched the boy's uncovered feet. Bridger picked up the blankets and laid them back over him.  
  
"Sleep well kiddo" Bridger said in a whisper. The kid never heard the words he uttered as he slept on oblivious to the Captain's administrations and fussings.  
  
By the time Bridger was finishing off his second cup of coffee, Kristen had only just awoken and was know coming into the living room. "Good morning Nathan" she said a little surprised to see him up so early. She then looked around the room and his state of alertness and judged that he must have been awake for some time.  
  
"Couldn't sleep?" she asked, thinking there might be a reason behind the early rising.  
  
"No, just my body telling me that I am back on SeaQuest." he said. "Good morning to you too Kristen. How did you sleep last night?" he now said returning the question.  
  
"Great actually. I was very warm all night which is more than I can say I am right now" she announced with a grimace looking under the front door for any sign of the invisible cold draught she could feel nipping at her heels from the weather outside.  
  
"Junior is still asleep" Nathan replied to Kristen's unasked query as she looked towards his door. "When I got up all the blankets were on the floor. I put them back on. He never heard a thing. Judging by the time though he should be starting to stir shortly."  
  
"Ben still asleep too I assume?" she enquired and Bridger nodded his head in answer.  
  
"What time did you want to start out for the resort this morning?" Kristen now asked, looking over at the clock that now read 8:20am.  
  
"No rush. Last night I was thinking about getting away as soon as everybody woke up. But now that I think about it this morning, we are not on any schedule or anything. We can afford to take our time and go whenever we want. I am going to go and get Lucas some warmer clothes in a minute." Bridger answered.  
  
"Well I'll get breakfast organized for everybody and when they have all eaten and you get back, we can head off then. I don't want to leave it too late in the day to travel in the snow. The roads are probably going to be a little slippery and snow-bound too." Kristen stated.  
  
Bridger went into his room and changed into something to wear outside "See you soon then" he said, giving Kristen a gentle kiss before he left. As the Captain was leaving to go shopping, the rest of the crew were just coming out of the other room and heading into where Kristen was.  
  
"Morning Kristen" Ben said from behind Kristen as he walked out into the living area of the motel room. The Lieutenant still hadn't lost any of his exuberance or excitement over the holiday from yesterday it seemed.  
  
"Where is the Captain going?" Ben now asked. The other crew members had a similar look on their faces as they watched Bridger drive away in one of the rented vehicles.  
  
"He is going to get Lucas some warmer clothes. He didn't bring very much with him. I don't think he owns too many sweaters or warm trousers. He is going to need them once we start travelling towards the resort today. He said he won't be long. Let's get breakfast started for everyone while we are waiting for him to come back. That way we can take off as soon as he is ready." Kristen explained.  
  
"Where is the kid anyway?" Commander Ford asked as everyone sat down in the living room and waited for breakfast to be ordered and delivered. They had to admit that this was the least they had to do for some time. It wasn't everyday that someone else promised to get breakfast for them all.  
  
"Did someone mention my name?" came voice from one of the bedrooms. All looked up to see a well slept teenager emerge, still dressed in the Captain's sweater and his track suit.  
  
"It's awake" Ben said jokingly as he spied the teenager sitting down, still rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes. It was a well known point that Lucas was not the best morning person in the world. They had all been on the receiving end of his wrath when one of them had been so bold as to disturb him on various occasions back on board the SeaQuest.  
  
"But does it talk?" Miguel Ortiz said as he joined in the teasing.  
  
"It's going to pound some friends if they don't stop talking about him as if he wasn't here" Lucas now responded now laughing at his own expense.  
  
"You certainly look a lot more refreshed than you did yesterday Lucas" Katie Hitchcock said as she noted some of the sparkle back in his blue eyes.  
  
"Yeah, I slept well too. I didn't even get up once during the night" Lucas now said. Kristen had to laugh secretly at this sentence as she remembered what Bridger had told her only a short time ago about how the teenager had been when he saw him this morning.  
  
"Where's the Captain?" Lucas now asked, noticing the man's absence for the first time that morning.  
  
"He just gone out for a drive. He will be back in a minute" Kristen answered, not wanting to alert the teenager to the fact that the Captain was probably out buying out a complete store for him. Lucas seemed happy enough with the explanation and didn't think it too strange an answer.  
  
A knock at the front door brought in the room service maid together with two helpers who brought in trays of breakfast. It was a hot breakfast and the air was tingling with a wonderful aroma that it brought with it.  
  
Kristen handed a plate to Lucas but was worried about the amount of food served. It wasn't an overly big sized meal, but to Lucas, getting him to eat any meal back aboard the boat was a battle in itself. She decided just to see how much he ate himself without niggling him about his eating habits like she normally did.  
  
The crew chatted idly about the day's trip ahead whilst they ate. Everybody else was about half way through their breakfast when Lucas got up from the table and announced it was time for him to get dressed.  
  
Kristen's eyes immediately fell onto his plate to see how much he had eaten. She kept looking for a few seconds but could scarcely believe what she saw. The boy's plate was completely empty.  
  
"Okay where is it?" she asked in mock sternness to Lucas.  
  
"Where's what?" he asked, confusion on his face.  
  
"The dog that you fed your breakfast to" she replied, looking around at everyone else plate for a more rational answer to the breakfast being gone. He must have put it onto somebody else's plate she told herself .  
  
Lucas chuckled out loud as he caught on to what she was on about. He knew how bad he normally was at meal times. He really didn't have an explanation this morning to please her. He had just felt a little bit more hungrier than he usually did.  
  
"I was hungry?" he said turning the sentence into a question more than a statement. He didn't know if he was trying to convince Kristen and his friends or himself.  
  
"That will be the day" Ben now said in a jibe.  
  
Just then Bridger burst through the door laden down with shopping bags. He stomped his feet on the doorway mat to scrap off as much snow and ice from his shoes as possible. He walked through the door and looked at the bemused looks on his friends.  
  
"What?" he said with a grin. He did admit if he was standing over the other side of the room he must have looked a sight.  
  
"You look like the abdominal snowman" Kristen said back to him "And your son here ate his entire breakfast without being force fed."  
  
"Good for you Lucas" Bridge replied, wanting to congratulate the boy on trying to change his habits. He thought it best not to make a big song and dance about it though because Lucas was likely to change back to his old habits again just as quickly.  
  
"What have you got there Sir?" Tim O'Neill asked, noting the large bags in his hands.  
  
"Clothes Tim" Bridger replied and started pulling out the garments that he had chosen. "I just hope they fit you Lucas" he now said and held up a large blue jacket for the teenager to inspect.  
  
Lucas went over and took the jacket from the Captain, holding it against his chest to check for length and size "You bought this for me?" he asked sheepishly, grateful for the clothes but a little worried that the Captain had spent more money on him.  
  
Just as if he was reading the boy's mind "Don't go worrying about the money Lucas. I wanted to buy it for you. I bought all of this for you too" he added, pulling out more warm sweaters, socks, trousers and thick warm tracksuits. He had also bought two pair of shoes, one pair casual, the other more boot like for hiking and walking. Then he pulled out the gloves and woollen beanie he had picked out. The beanie was multi- coloured and had very strong symbols over it.  
  
Lucas stood there for a minute, too shocked at all before him to say anything. A moment ago he had been slightly worried about the Captain just buying a jacket for him. Now he had pulled out a virtual whole ward robe. He looked at Bridger, still trying to find words to say.  
  
"You did all of this for me" he finally said, holding back his emotions. Nobody had ever been this generous to him before.  
  
"Of course I did it for you kiddo" Bridger said as he smiled at the boy's humbleness towards people giving him things. "I couldn't let you go cold now could I. Kristen and the rest of the crew would never let me live it down if we went on holidays and you got sick."  
  
Lucas flashed a great smile of appreciation and disappeared to get changed like he had wanted to, taking the bags of clothes with him to pack in his suit case. When he came back into the living room, he had on the blue jacket Bridger had held up first and a pair of fleece-lined tracksuit pants and the casual shoes and the lined gloves for his hands.  
  
Everything else was now packed away in his suitcase. It had only been half full when he left SeaQuest, now it was close to overflowing. If he bought anything else on these holidays, he would have to buy a bigger suitcase to carry it all back in.  
  
The other crew members now returned to their own room and changed into much warmer clothes as well. The breeze was only very gentle at the moment, but even so, it was enough to make their breath form condensation as they spoke outside the door.  
  
**************************************************************************** ***  
  
About an hour after everybody had let their breakfast settle down and they had gotten their belongings packed into the two vehicles, everybody was finally ready to head towards the resort.  
  
Whilst they had been packing the vehicles that morning, Lucas had walked outside only to stare at the surroundings in awe and wonder. The place had been covered by a thin white blanket of snow overnight. It wasn't anything like what they were going to see later on that day. By the time they got to the resort, the ground would be frozen solid and the snow would be three feet deep in some areas.  
  
Nevertheless Lucas couldn't help but crouch down and take off the glove from one of his hands and feel the white substance on his skin for the first time. Bridger could see the kid's curiosity and bent down next to him.  
  
"What does it feel like?" he asked, genuinely interested.  
  
"Kinda like the ice in your freezer you have to scrape off before you defrost it" Lucas replied as he squashed it in his palm and through his fingers. It was cold but not overly so. Not quite as bad as he had thought beforehand. "It even makes a strange squishy sound" he added and demonstrated it by repeating the process.  
  
"Come on, there will be lots more time to feel the ice and snow when we get to the resort. We still have to drive there yet and I want to get on the road as soon as everyone is ready." Bridger now said, as the two of them returned to the vehicles.  
  
Commander Ford, Miguel Ortiz, Tim O'Neill and Katie Hitchcock were already in their vehicle and slowly pulling out of the car park motel when Bridger and Kristen were climbing into their seats.  
  
Ben and Lucas hadn't been watching each other's movements for a few seconds and both now put their hands on the same door handle. They looked at each other surprised at first but then as they looked at each other and then at Bridger and Kristen, a shadow of mischief came over both of their faces.  
  
To Lucas, Kristen and Bridger had always been the parents he had wanted. Now he and Ben had an idea to be the kids that most parents hated to be with when they went on holidays. It was all in fun and meant to fill in time. It would be interesting just to see how long the Captain and the doctor could stand the childish antics.  
  
"I was here first Lucas" Ben now declared in his best brat-like voice.  
  
"You were not. I was" Lucas said falling right into cue with his friend. The both of them had to hid the giggles they had when they saw the looks on the faces of Bridger and Kristen.  
  
"I was too"  
  
"Were not"  
  
"Were not not not not"  
  
"Was too too too too"  
  
"Oh for heavens sake you two, do you have to fight like children?" Kristen said a little annoyed at the impish behaviour. She hadn't quite caught onto their little game yet.  
  
"Lucas you sit behind me, Ben you sit on the other side" she now said, making the seating arrangements for them.  
  
To Lucas it was supposed to be a victory because it was the side of the car that they had been fighting over. He looked at the grumpy face of Ben and stuck out his tongue in triumph before climbing into his seat behind the doctor.  
  
Ben walked around and got into the other seat behind the Captain. When the Captain and the doctor looked forward to see where they were headed, both Lucas and Ben gave each other smiles and winks to say how great their little game was working already.  
  
The two scheming "children" left the next part of their little game until they had been on the road about half an hour. They thought they had better not carry on like that for the entire trip to the resort or Kristen was likely to dump them off on the side of the road and leave them there until they came back. Neither one of them doubted she would do it either when she was riled enough.  
  
Bridger knew exactly what the two of them were trying to do. He wasn't going to interfere just yet. He would wait to see how long before the good doctor got ticked off by them. It was great to see the two of them so relaxed and having fun for a change. He had scarcely seen Lucas without his smile since they left the motel room and he couldn't be more happy about that.  
  
Ben was first to start the next round of child arguing off "Mom, he's taking up all the room back here" he said in a pouty voice.  
  
"Am not, I hardly got any room. He's got all the room. Mom tell him to move his big feet out of the way so I go some room" Lucas now responded.  
  
"Lucas you got plenty of room" Kristen now said, not turning around to take a look.  
  
Lucas put on a face that said a thousand words "But he....."  
  
"For get it kid, she stuck up for you when you decided to take my side of the car"  
  
"This is my side of the car"  
  
"Is not"  
  
"Is too"  
  
"Is not not not not"  
  
"Is too too too too"  
  
"Will you two please try and behave like adults back there" Kristen said in mock annoyance.  
  
Lucas and Ben both looked at each other after she had said it and immediately started pretending to bawl like a couple of tantrum throwing toddlers who weren't getting their own way. Soon the whole car was engulfed with the sounds of laughter coming from within. Kristen and Bridger were joining in just as heartily.  
  
The mischief only kept up for another five minutes or so though until none of them could hold back their laughter anymore. The atmosphere in the car was great. Calm, relaxed, having a heck of a good time and there was plenty more to come.  
  
"Wow look at that scenery" Bridger now said as he tried to keep his eyes on the road but also glancing towards the snow laden fields that surrounded them. It was very rare that he had gotten to see such pretty images up world. Normally it was only the look of fish through a glass window that he got to see almost every day of his life.  
  
"We really are in for a white Christmas aren't we?" Kristen said as she too was awe struck by the beauty before her. These parts of the country were still under strict protection from authorities who aimed to keep them preserved for all generations to see. Kristen could now see why too as she gazed outside at the white wonder before her. It was scenes like this that she hoped that everybody could see at least once in their life time.  
  
As the journey continued, the passengers continued to be amazed as they began to head into the mountains. The snow capped peaks stood towering beside the roadway.  
  
The trip was a pleasant one with Ben occasionally falling into full chorus singing "She'll be coming around the mountain when she comes" the further they drove into the mountains.  
  
About an hour out from the resort, Bridger pulled the vehicle over to stop and stretch his legs a little and give Kristen a turn at the driving. He could have kept driving for the entire trip if he wanted to but if Kristen drove he could take a better look out of the window without fear of losing his concentration on the road ahead.  
  
Commander Ford and his party were already ahead in their vehicle and had made two stops to change drivers during the past three hours. They were about ten minutes ahead of Bridger's car.  
  
As the car came to a complete stop, Bridger turned around to look in the back seat. There hadn't been any noise or chatter coming from their for over twenty minutes now. He laughed quietly as he could soon see why, both Ben and Lucas were both sound asleep with their heads reading up against either side door.  
  
"Great travelling companions those two make" Bridger now commented as he pointed the sleeping duo out to Kristen. "Five minutes of driving in the car and they are dead to the world."  
  
"Actually I think it's the forced immobility that did it. They have been in the car for over three hours now and they haven't been able to move much except for hurling jokes or smart comments at each other or us. Normally neither of them can sit still for two minutes without starting to squirm and wiggle about." Kristen replied.  
  
Bridger now got out of the car and took a long luxurious stretch to alleviate some of the stiffness and tenseness out of his arms and legs. Continual sitting was something he wasn't very used to either.  
  
Lucas now woke as his body finally realised that the car wasn't moving anymore. He sat up and looked out the window and could see the Captain standing near the driver's side door.  
  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep so quickly again" he said to Kristen.  
  
"Your partner in crime there is asleep too" Kristen now pointed out and Lucas looked over to Ben and saw what she said to be true.  
  
"Get up ya lazy bum" he now said playfully as he jostled his friend from his catnap.  
  
"Are we there yet?" came the famous old time question from Ben. "Are we there yet" he repeated just to add to the digging he meant for Kristen.  
  
Kristen just rolled her eyes at the comment, "God give me strength" she muttered, still with a smile on her face though. Kristen now took her place at the steering wheel and soon the vehicle began moving again towards it's destination.  
  
**************************************************************************** ***  
  
As the resort finally started to come into sight, it was hardly the image they had pictured. Where they had expected large bungalow style chalets lined up along side each other, there was sparsely spread out cabins.  
  
There was only large main building for the reception area and restaurant. Alongside it was a smaller building tacked on for use as a souvenir shop and ski equipment store. There was already a large number of people moving about the place. Most of them dressed in skiing gear with poles in their hands.  
  
"This is going to be great" Lucas whispered as he tried to keep a check on the excitement and anticipation that was building up inside him.  
  
Bridger could see Commander Ford's vehicle parked just outside the reception building and he now parked along side it too.  
  
"Have a nice drive Captain?" Ford asked as Bridger climbed out.  
  
"Yes thank you Jonathan" Bridger said deliberately dropping the official titles. "Just call me Nathan for the next few days huh?"  
  
"Sure Captain..I mean Nathan" Ford said pulling himself up. It was going to be difficult to break a long standing tradition but he would manage. It wasn't easy to start calling your superior officer by his first name after being under his command for a few years.  
  
"Where are the babes?" Ben Krieg said as he started compiling a list of the most important activities to attend to during their visit.  
  
"Hold your horses Ben" Bridger said as he grabbed the over zealous Lieutenant. "We can go and meet the other people later. Firstly we have to check into the resort and get shown to our cabins. After that we have a tour organised with one of the guides here to show us around the place and where things are."  
  
"When do we get to eat?" Lucas now asked innocently as he went through the list Bridger had explained.  
  
Everybody now turned to the teenager with amazed expressions on their faces at what he had just asked.  
  
"But you ate breakfast back at the motel Lucas" Miguel said on everybody's behalf. They were all starting to wonder if this was the same teenager they had brought with them that they claimed to know.  
  
"Yeah but that was four hours ago" Lucas said in his defence. "I could go a burger and fries and coke right now" he added.  
  
Bridger wiped off the shocked expression and replaced it with a grin. He was over the moon that the kid was finally finding his appetite. If the kid was hungry they should feed him.  
  
"I don't know what they have to eat here Lucas but we will go and find out okay" he said as he started leading his party into the reception building to find their cabins.  
  
"Come on Ben" Katie Hitchcock said as she began dragging him along by the arm. Ben's attention was distracted by three girls dressed in ski gear who had just walked past him. He could have sworn that one of them turned his way and winked at him. Maybe he was just being hopeful. Katie knew Ben had a fascination with pretty girls but she knew his personality traits too and he didn't stand a chance in hell of getting one of them to talk to him let alone go out with him.  
  
"Good afternoon Sir" the clerk at the desk greeted Bridger and his party. "Welcome to Snowmass Village."  
  
"Hello, I am Nathan Bridger and these are my friends. We have two cabins booked for the week and would like to check in and then have someone show us to our room please." the Captain said greeted him.  
  
"Well Mr Bridger, I will attend to your check-in right now and I will have one of our staff escort you across the snow to your cabins. I can see by the notations in the reservations book that you have two large suites with extra beds and linen." the clerk said as he read from a book.  
  
"Thank you and I think it was also arranged for one of your guides to give us a tour of your village later on this afternoon" Bridger added hoping the tour hadn't been left out of the arrangements.  
  
"Yes I can see that has been booked Sir for 5.00pm this afternoon. It is 4.20pm now so that should give you and your party enough time to relax a little and get settled in their cabins before the tour begins. You will need to be promptly on time for the tour as it takes an hour and all activities cease at around 6.00pm at night due to the failing light and drop in temperature." the clerk explained.  
  
Bridger signed all the required documentation and gave everybody's name to the clerk as requested. It was explained to them that the resort needed to know everybody's name and age and any other necessary information in case an emergency should arise. Although the risk of accident was relatively small, due to the remoteness of the village from any major centre, it was better to be safe rather than sorry.  
  
"Mr Heinz will show you to your cabins. If you need anything please don't hesitate to ask. There will be a full menu on display after 6.30pm tonight in the dining room. The ski shop will be open first thing in the morning to attend to any equipment needs you or your party may have. I trust you will all enjoy your brief stay with us." he said being the perfect concierge and promoting his place of business as much as possible.  
  
The crew followed Mr Heinz to their assigned cabins. Both of the rooms were side by side with an adjoining doorway between the two main living areas. The sleeping arrangements would be the same here as they had been back at the motel, Bridger, Kristen, Ben and Lucas in one, the rest of them in the other. But they could come and enjoy activities with each other as often as they liked because of the connecting doorway.  
  
Most meals would probably be eaten in the dining room save for breakfast which would normally be delivered by room service each morning.  
  
"Wow these room are really great Captain" Tim O'Neill said as they wandered through their temporary lodgings for the week. The rooms were very spacious and each had a small fireplace in them to heat the room. It was surprising how much of a difference it truly was between the temperatures outside than inside the cabins.  
  
Both of the cabins had a large double bed and two single ones in them. Whilst this was the perfect arrangement for Bridger's room, it was less than ideal for Commander Ford's.  
  
"Who is going to share the double bed then?" Katie Hitchcock asked with an amused look on her face. There was no way she was going to share with any of the guys. Maybe she would need to talk to Kristen about swapping rooms with Ben.  
  
"We will work out something Katie" Ford said letting her know that the sleeping arrangements would eventually suit everyone.  
  
Lucas and Ben seemed to be happy enough with the cabin they were in. There was even a TV in the living room. But it would depend on the weather at night as to how good the reception was going to be  
  
It didn't take long for 5.00pm to roll around and when Bridger answered the expected knock at the door, a large broad blond man stood at the door introducing himself as their guide for the tour.  
  
"My name is Andrew Smith and if you are all ready we will get underway with the tour." the man announced to them all.  
  
"Lead on Mr Smith" Bridger instructed him. Everybody had made sure that they were wearing sturdy shoes, a thick jacket or overcoat and gloves on their hands. The wind had been blowing since they had arrived and it was cold.  
  
They hadn't walked more than 10 metres from the cabin before the guide stopped the party and gave a few basic ground rules about the resort:  
  
"The main thing to remember for the next hour is to stick together. We can slow down the pace or quicken it up to suit you all, but if one of you gets separated from the rest of us then we have a potentially dangerous situation at hand." the man now said in complete seriousness. He didn't want to it too sound like there wasn't any fun to be had. But they couldn't risk loosing one of their paying guests either.  
  
Everybody nodded their head in agreement of the situation. All made a mental note to check regularly to make sure nobody was lagging behind.  
  
"Okay, now the history of the place" the guide said as he started his regular little speech about the place. "This village is call Snowmass. It is situated about fifty miles north west of Aspen itself along route 82. "Further north is Woody Creek and North east the village of Lenado. About 100 miles south is the centre of Ashcroft."  
  
"So as you can see, we are a little isolated here during some of the winter months. We can travel out by vehicle most months of the year. But if we have above average snow falls or avalanches then they only way out of the area is by ski or skiddoo. We can fly into here as well from Aspen but if the weather is bad like it can be, then the airport at Aspen normally suspends all flights. There is absolutely no flying allowed at night time for obvious reasons."  
  
"Do you get many avalanches here?" Miguel asked picking up on that particular word.  
  
"Not really, we normally get by with about three or four small ones through the skiing season. Most of them are triggered by people staying here. They either do silly things when they are snow-boarding or skiing in areas that they are not experienced enough for. Occasionally we get a major one from old mother nature when she sends down about ten ton of snow but they are very rare these days." Smith replied.  
  
As the tour continued, Lucas tried to keep his attention focused on what the guide was telling them, but at times his mind just wandering to the white powdery snow under his feet. He loved the way his boots made a squelchy sound when he walked. The cold wind was nipping at his nose but he didn't care. Walking through the snow and wind gave him one of the most exhilarating feelings he had ever had.  
  
"We normally have eight chair lifts operating each day and there are groups set up for cross-country skiing and snow-boarding. Those two activities normally take place a little away from the resort, higher up in the mountains if anybody is interested later on. There will a daily instructor available to give skiing lessons and he can even give individual tutorage if that is what you would prefer." Smith informed them.  
  
The tour now moved closer to some of the more remote cabins and Lucas found his attention wandering out across the snow fields themselves. He gaze soon rested upon a peculiar site off into the distance from them.  
  
"Excuse me Mr Smith, what are they?" Lucas asked.  
  
"Andrew please. Mr Smith is my dad" the clerk told the teenager "Those are caribou...." he said hoping to find out the kid's name to use.  
  
"Lucas" the boy replied seeing the clerk's unanswered question.  
  
" Caribou? You mean as in deer?" he now asked.  
  
"Yes, more precisely reindeer" he said with a laugh, adding a bit of season spirit to the whole conversation.  
  
"Don't they get cold out in the snow there for months on end?" Lucas started to ask.  
  
"Oh don't worry about them Lucas. Caribou have very thick fur on their bodies. They last throughout the coldest winters up here just fine. They eat the frozen shoots of plants that they find hidden underneath the snow." Smith replied.  
  
"Don't they hibernate like other animals?" Miguel asked not knowing very much about the animals habits at all.  
  
"No they don't hibernate like bears and squirrels and such. See how they are herded into one big group there now?" he asked, noting everybody's curiosity to the animals in the distance.  
  
"Well they do that to keep warm. They huddle together in groups and use their fat stores in their bodies to maintain their body temperatures." he now told them.  
  
"What happens to them when the weather turns really bad with the storms and that?" Katie Hitchcock now asked.  
  
"They are pretty smart animals you know. They can sense when a storm is coming. "See those clouds over by the mountains," the man said, pointing to the west. "Those are snow clouds, and they're coming fast. If the weather turns nasty then they simply hide out in a cave. The mountains are literally dotted with hundreds of little nooks and caves around the place. Animals sense when a storm is coming"  
  
"Okay folks that about covers the tour at this stage of things. My clock says it's about 5:50pm so if you would all like to head back to your cabins now to warm up a bit. It's starting to get a bit cold out here already tonight. Dinner will be served in the dining room at 6.30pm. I will probably meet up with most of you again there." he said and started leading the party back towards the resort.  
  
The crew had been so enthralled by what was happening around them and learning about the history and geography of the place that they had lost track of the time. It almost seemed like they had only just stepped out of their cabins a few minutes ago rather than it being almost an hour later.  
  
"That was really great" Lucas now said with a happy face. The rest of the crew nodded their heads in agreement.  
  
"Are those clothes I got you warm enough Lucas?" Bridger asked later on after everybody had showered and changed for dinner.  
  
"Yeah they really are. That wind out there was stinging my face a little but the clothes were nice and warm thanks." Lucas replied. "I don't know if I would like being cold all of the time you know." he now added.  
  
"No, can't say as I would either Lucas. I think I am too used to living on my island for so long with the sun beating down on me most of the year. When the sun isn't roasting my back, it is usually pouring rain instead." Bridger admitted.  
  
"Ready to go to dinner?" he know asked Kristen and the others.  
  
"Am I ever" Lucas replied, "I still didn't have anything else to eat yet you know."  
  
"Did you keep all the receipts for those clothes Captain? Because judging by the way the kid is eating at the moment and saying his is hungry, they aren't going to fit him for very much longer." Ben said jokingly.  
  
About an hour after the crew sat down to dinner, most of them were thinking along the same lines as Ben as they watched the teenager polish off the last of his hot apple crumble for desert. Lucas had chosen a nice hearty vegetable stew for main meal. It was hot and delicious and warmed him from the inside out. He had not one helping but two of the delicious dish before his dessert.  
  
"Maybe it's the change in altitude" Tim O'Neill said logically as they all tried to figure out what had caused the boy's appetite to change so dramatically in the last 24 hours or so. "I mean he is usually under the water for nine months of the year and now we are on top of a mountain range."  
  
Lucas knew that they were all looking at him but he didn't mind. He couldn't really put a finger on why he was so hungry all of the time either. He just looked at them all across the table and gave them all his flashiest smile and washed his meal down with a Pepsi.  
  
None of them minded that Lucas was eating more. All of them thought he could use some more flesh on this bones. His clothes normally hung on his thin frame. It was just something that they were normally used to seeing.  
  
Bridger didn't think there was any need to be logical about the change at all. He could see just by looking at the kid that he was relaxed. Relaxed, happy, having a great time already and thriving on the atmosphere around him. He hoped it never stopped, even once the holiday ended.  
  
Everybody had returned from the restaurant warm and with a full belly. They had idly chatted in the living room for a hour or so before all of them bid each other good night and headed off to bed.  
  
Katie finally persuaded her ex-husband to change rooms with her and she had taken his single bed in Lucas's room.  
  
Ben hadn't been put out by the change but was now sleeping side by side Miguel in the double bed. They had drawn straws to see who would be the losers and undoubtedly he and his Portuguese friend declared that the whole draw had been rigged from the start.  
  
Tomorrow was going to prove another long but enjoyable day. They were going shopping in Aspen.  
  
**************************************************************************** **********  
  
Everybody woke up the next morning feeling like they had had the best sleep ever. While the wind had blown outside and the snow fell in deep rifts along the various skiing trails and hiking treks, inside the cabins had been incredibly warm.  
  
The blankets that the resort provided were made from richly thick material that made you just want to roll up in the folds of warmth.  
  
All enjoyed a nice and relaxed breakfast together in Bridger's cabin and talked about what was planned for the day. Bridger pretty much left it up to each of them to decide what they wanted to do but by the end of the meal they were all heading to Aspen for some shopping before Christmas Eve.  
  
By 9.00am that morning, everybody was once again seated in the two vehicles, ready to start the journey to Aspen and a full morning of shopping. It was only about 12 miles to the city, but due to the amount of snow and ice on the road, they would probably go at a very slow pace the entire way.  
  
As they made their way to the shop, it was difficult to ignore just how much traffic was on the road at this time of the year for such a remote skiing area. Whilst is wasn't like the veins and arteries of the highways back in Los Angeles where you were stuck in endless lanes bumper to bumper. There were more cars on the road than they actually first thought.  
  
About forty minutes of very slow travelling on the icy road to Aspen, they were now in the main part of town, searching for the best shops to visit. Up ahead they could see a large shopping centre that boasted over 70 different stores within. Although there were lots of other little shops and stores along the road as they went, all of them agreed that due to the amount of people that were going to be shopping as well today, they were best to go to one place that had everything.  
  
At the shopping centre everybody could complete the Christmas present shopping that wasn't finished yet. They could also stock up on all the goodies for after Christmas dinner in the grocery store.  
  
"Now don't forget you guys, we need to get some decorations to put up in the cabins this afternoon as well as for decorating the Christmas tree tonight" Bridger now reminded the people in his car as they pulled into the undercover car park area.  
  
The place was huge. Everyone took careful notes of the numbers and letters written on the cement columns around them. Once they went inside they might very well never be able to find their vehicles again without them.  
  
Bridger looked over towards Lucas as they prepared to walk through the main doors of the shopping centre. He couldn't force back the smiles as he looked at the teenager's expectant face. Part of the boy looked scared at a place so big and huge. The other part was just bursting to get inside and have a look around.  
  
Lucas had been in many shopping centre before in his life. But somehow this one was a little different. He could scarcely believe the number of people coming in behind them. They all had to watch out in front and behind them in case they got stampeded on the way in by the crowd. As they walked through the door, their senses were bombarded from all sides.  
  
There were Christmas carols being played over the speakers so loud that you could hardly hear yourself think. There was all sorts of decorations adorning each and every little shop. Some of them even had lights blinking on and off as well as part of the season's festivities.  
  
And of course there was the most delicious aromas wafting in from all over the centre. The smell of freshly baking bread, donuts and other assorted confectionary. All of the crew could feel their stomach's protest in anticipation of being able to sample some of those delicious morsels.  
  
Bridger now stopped in a spot where they weren't likely to be run over by the crowd to talk to them all briefly before they headed off on their separate ways.  
  
"This is a big place guys, I don't want anybody wandering off and getting lost. Chances are we won't be able to find you again in a hurry if we have to. How about we all agree to meet back here in say an hour and a half. That should give everybody time enough to do their shopping. I want everybody to pick out two decorations to take back to the cabins. Some of you get some tinsel and ribbons, others can get ornaments for the tree." Bridger now said.  
  
"But we don't even have a Christmas tree" Lucas now piped up thinking that they would probably have to buy a fake silver one whilst they were shopping today.  
  
"We can get a real live one when we get back to the resort Lucas. I spoke briefly to the manager the other day about it when I made the arrangements. He says as long as we don't take one that is too big and makes a mess all over the cabin, then there are plenty to choose from back there." Bridger replied.  
  
"That's great Nathan, a real one beats a plastic store one any day" Kristen now said with delight.  
  
The group now split up some, Miguel, Tim and Ben seemed to go in one group, Katie and Jonathan were content to keep each other company for the hour and a half. That left Kristen, Bridger and Lucas in the other group. For a minute Lucas was almost going to walk off on his own, thinking that Kristen and the Captain wouldn't want him dragging long behind them.  
  
"And where do you think your going all by yourself?" Kristen now asked the teenager as he turned to walk away in the opposite direction.  
  
"Um well I just thought that, well I have to buy presents for you and the Captain yet as well as the others." Lucas said. "I didn't buy anything yet. I can't buy for you if you are looking over my shoulders now can I?" he now reasoned with her.  
  
"Okay junior, but you be careful okay!" Bridger now said, emphasising the words. "You meet us back here like everybody else at the appointed time or I'll have to send out a search party for you." he now joked.  
  
"Have you got enough money?" he now asked.  
  
"Actually yes" Lucas said proudly. "Being underwater for so long at a time, there isn't anywhere to spend my pay unless you talk to Ben or Murray. I have been putting some away each month," he explained. He had fought tooth and nail to be recognized as a worthwhile member of the crew and that he deserved a salary.  
  
Admittedly he had almost fallen over backwards when Commander Ford handed him his first pay check after leaving Node 3 but now that pay check was a monthly one and he had a sense of independence about himself that he didn't have to rely on his parents or somebody else to pay his way the whole time. He would never have had enough money to pay for a trip like this that Bridger was paying for but he could afford to buy nice things for them this year. He just had to figure out what.  
  
"Well go easy on your funds now. You don't have to spend every cent you have saved. If you need any more let me know." Bridger said honestly.  
  
"See you" the teenager now said as he walked into the crowd towards one of the larger department stores within the shopping centre.  
  
Bridger and Kristen now went towards some of the more specialised stores, wondering what gifts to get for each other and the rest of the crew. Bridger knew that he had said the trip was a present for them all, and it was. But he wanted to see the excitement on Lucas's face as he tore the wrapping paper of a present from underneath the tree on Christmas day.  
  
Lucas had thought long and hard about the gifts he got for each of the crew. He wanted to make sure that when they saw whatever it was, apart from the initial surprise, they would see that there had been some thought so into each of them when it was bought.  
  
For Kristen he had bought a very fine gold necklace. Actually it was two necklaces interwoven to make one at first glance. At the bottom, there were two charms. Whoever you gave the necklace to, you were supposed to keep the other one showing that you would be friends always when you wore it.  
  
For Katie Hitchcock, Lucas had again gone for fine things that girls liked. True he had had a boyhood crush on her when he first came aboard the SeaQuest. But now he liked to think that he had matured enough to be over that now. Nowadays he wanted to think of Katie as a very close friend who he could confide in when he needed some help from somebody else apart from Kristen or the Captain.  
  
He ended up spotting a man at a makeshift table, blowing glass objects for the crowd. After watching in amazement for ten minutes he had inspected some of the very delicate items the man had on display. He ended up choosing a very delicate and long necked vase that had two little glass blue sparrows sitting on the rim of the vase. Katie liked little dainty things like that.  
  
When it came to buy for Miguel, Lucas knew that the man had a passion for old style weapons and armoury. Probably came from his Spanish and Portuguese heritage. For him Lucas had chosen a finely crafted sabre with its own sheath. It was made from stainless steel and had a platinum handle intricately carved with historical symbols to identify it's point of origin. It came with a certificate of authenticity for Miguel's collection.  
  
For Tim O'Neill, Lucas had bought a few reading items. Firstly a book of foreign languages so Tim could read until his heart's content. The other book dealt with the subject of bonsai and how to create the plants for yourself. Tim already had one or two bonsai trees back in his cabin on board the SeaQuest. They thrived in the artificial light and the underwater environment seemed to aid in hampering their growth without hurting the plant too much.  
  
Commander Jonathan Ford was known to enjoy a good drop of fine alcohol in the seclusion of his own quarters after his shifts on the Bridge back at SeaQuest. Lucas had seen a large bottle of port that had been aged in a wooden barrel for over 100 years. Because of his age though, Lucas had to whisper nicely to Tim about buying the alcohol for him.  
  
Ben was the person Lucas had the most trouble trying to decide what to buy for. The man just revelled in things that made jokes or pranks but he wanted to buy something else apart from that. He ended up buying his best friend a very nice looking silver watch. It came in a special display case with all the instructions for all of the extra features. It would take Ben until the New Year to figure out how to set the time on it.  
  
Lucas had deliberately left Bridger's present until the last. At first it had been like Ben and he didn't know what to buy for him. Especially after the trip. How on earth was he going to buy something that even remotely came close in saying thanks. He had wandered around the various shops for almost half an hour without an idea at all until he came across something in one of the camera shops.  
  
What he saw was a very expensive looking telescope. It wasn't full size, only about three feet long, but it was made entirely out of brass with an equally handsome matching polished wooden stand to sit on. Not knowing much about astrology items, Lucas had been assured by the shop-keeper that it was made by one of the best companies and was guaranteed to be accurate.  
  
Lucas had swallowed hard when the man mentioned the price. Almost three times what he had first thought to spend and more than he had spent on everybody else together. He looked at what he had left in his wallet and what was available to him in the bank. At the end of the day he would have about fifty dollars left for the next month until they got paid from the U.E.O. again. But throwing caution to the wind he knew it would be all worth it when he saw the look on the Captain's face.  
  
Now laden down with many wrapped presents and bags, Lucas looked at his watch and swore when he saw that he was nearly ten minutes late for meeting the rest of the crew. He quickly exited the store where he had bought Bridger's present and walked as fast as the crowd would let him back to the spot they had agreed to meet at.  
  
By now the rest of the crew was waiting patiently for any signs of Lucas. Some of them had scarcely made it back in time themselves, but with Lucas being the youngest amongst them, they were all beginning to wonder where he was. Bridger was the one who was worried the most. Although he didn't think anything had happened to the kid, he didn't like it that the kid was late.  
  
Kristen was just about to suggest they split up into two teams to go and look for him when they saw the puffed young man running towards them, trying hard to control the bags in his hands.  
  
"Sorry....." he stammered and stopped to catch his breath. "Got caught up buying the last present." he said, hoping his excuse was enough.  
  
"Glad to see you managed to work your way through this crowd okay Lucas" Bridger now said, trying to convince his fears that they could relax now.  
  
"Hey Lucas what decorations did you get for the tree?" Ben now asked. He had to laugh secretly to himself about the plan he had come up with for later in the evening for the teenager.  
  
Miguel and Tim had been at the cash register of one of the shops, carrying what decorations the trio had picked out when Ben spotted some red and green lengths of tinsel and some over- sized red bows. His prank playing mind quickly turned to mischief and what he could use the decorations for. Needless to say he had brought one of the large bows and three lengths of the tinsel.  
  
"On darn it" Lucas said and slapped his forehead that he had been too busy tied up with what presents to buy that he had totally forgot about buying decorations for the cabin and tree. "I'm sorry I forgot" he apologized and then winced as he took out his wallet and saw the couple of dollars he had left crumpled up inside. He didn't know how he was going to tell them that he had just about run out of money. Pride kept him from asking the Captain like had been suggested earlier.  
  
Kristen could see the panged look on the boy's face. Whilst she didn't know the real reason why he looked to be out of pocket, she did have a suggestion to help him.  
  
"Don't worry about it Lucas. I got some stuff where me and you can make our own decorations this afternoon when we get back to the cabin, okay?" Kristen now said.  
  
"Really? What did you get?" he now asked, the curiosity getting to him.  
  
"It's a surprise. You can all help once we get back to the resort." she said with a grin. "We have to get that tree first anyway before we can use any of the decorations."  
  
"Hey can we get some of those donuts before we get back in the car?" Lucas asked as the crew walked towards the same doors they had come in.  
  
"You're hungry again Lucas?" Miguel asked. "Come to think of it so am I" he added though as they walked past the counter. The aroma was hard to resist.  
  
By the time they found the vehicles again, most of them enjoyed the sugar coated delicacies on the trip back to the resort. The backs of the vehicles were laden down with the bags and presents that everybody had bought. Everybody seemed happy enough with the purchases they had made and the gifts that they had chosen for one another. They could hardly wait to see the looks on the faces of those who they had bought for.  
  
**************************************************************************** *********  
  
The trip from the shopping centre in Aspen to the resort Snowmass Village was an enjoyable one for all. Although they were in separate vehicles, both teams decided to really get into the real spirit of Christmas and they all started singing Christmas Carols.  
  
Of course some of the verses were a little hazy as to how the words went and the singing itself was a little off key in places. But to Bridger, the sound of those seeing the smiles on the faces around him and the sound of those voices, made this trip all worth while. He could scarcely remember the crew having such a good time.  
  
Once they had reached the resort, the task of unloading the bags and parcels was taken care of. The next order of business was to find a Christmas tree for the decorations they had bought.  
  
Everybody except Bridger and Kristen opted to go out looking for the tree. Kristen promised that she would have a special surprise and activity for them all to do when they returned with the tree.  
  
The team for the tree search now put on some extra warmer clothing and headed off a little away from the cabin in search of the best looking Christmas tree.  
  
Lucas was following behind the team, lagging behind occasionally to take in the breath taking scenery around him. Because of the recent and deep snow falls, every thing looked new and crisp. The scent of the pine needles invaded his senses giving off the most refreshing aroma as they walked through the trees.  
  
The team wandered from tree to tree, discussing the merits and problems of each prospect. All the trees they looked at were either too fat, too skinny, too tall or too short. Lucas left it to the others to pick out the tree. He didn't have any real experience in choosing which tree was likely to be the best.  
  
They had now travelled as far as they dared without knowing the terrain. It was actually one the return trip that Miguel spotted what he thought was the perfect tree. The specimen was too big in total for them to cut down and drag back to the cabin.  
  
But it was just short enough for Commander Ford to be able to saw the top off the pine. That way they covered both bases. They had a big enough tree to put into the cabin without it being overly big and making a mess they would only have to clean up later. And secondly the tree would be allowed to continue to grow and in a few years time somebody else would have a whole new Christmas tree ready to be used.  
  
Tim had managed to get a hold of a small hand saw from the local maintenance man at the resort to enable them to cut down the small section of tree. It was this saw that Miguel and Ford now used in tandem. Neither of them imagined how difficult the pine would be to cut at first. Even though it was a smallish tree, the frozen trunk proved a little tougher to saw and cut through. Both of them complained about their arm muscles aching from the effort.  
  
Lucas had been standing a few metres away from everyone else, just content to let the others bicker and fight over what needed to be done. He was just so enthralled with the magnificence of the natural surroundings.  
  
Commander Ford had been carefully monitoring where the branch was going to fall. He noted that Lucas was standing only a short distance from where he estimated it would fall.  
  
"Stand back, Lucas, this tree is going to fall right where you're standing." Ford said as Miguel had taken over the sawing once more and continued to whack at the trunk, about four feet from the top of the tree.  
  
Lucas did not move. He was too busy watching looking around at the mountains in the distance wondering which one that they were likely to be skiing on tomorrow morning after they took some lessons. At the sound of Commander Ford's voice, Lucas turned his head. Before he knew it, he was looking up into a Christmas tree as it fell from the sky. "Lucas!" yelled Ben as he lunged at the teenager's legs. Just in the nick of time, he pushed Lucas to the side, thus avoiding the imminent collision of boy and tree.  
  
Everybody concerned had held their breath as they had watched the branch of the tree fall towards the unsuspecting teenager. Now that he was safely laying on the snow covered ground unharmed they all exhaled loudly allowing themselves to relax a little.  
  
"Are you alright Lucas?" Ben managed to ask once he got his voice back. He didn't think he just acted. All he could see was the branch falling towards his best friend. The branch wasn't overly big but it still may have caused some pain to the boy if it had of hit him. He didn't want to think about it.  
  
"Y-Yeah" Lucas said, his teeth chattering slightly from laying on the cold snow. He pulled himself up into a sitting position. He wrapped his arms tightly around his chest as the coldness began to seep deeper into his damp clothing and through his skin.  
  
"Katie, you take Lucas back to the cabin now to start getting warmed up. By the time you walk back he will be even colder. Me and the other guys can drag the tree together and be right behind you." Ben now suggested as he glanced over the teenager, looking for any signs of injury. Thankfully he couldn't see any but he could see how cold the boy was beginning to become and he wanted him indoors and in dry clothes.  
  
Lucas was now standing up and gladly started walking back towards the cabin with Katie. He could barely wait until he could have a hot shower and get warm again.  
  
"ACHOO" Lucas sneezed. Katie threw him an "Uh-oh" look and quickened their pace to the cabin.  
  
Lucas sneezed twice more before they got there. When they opened the door Bridger and Kristen were immediately on their feet looking with concern at the shivering teenager.  
  
"What happened?" Kristen asked as she helped Katie direct the cold and wet teenager inside the cabin. By this time the cold wind that blew outside had caused the water on Lucas's pants from the snow to form icicles.  
  
"Lucas got wet in the snow" Katie said a little nervously not really wanting to bear the full force of Kristen's and Bridger's wrath alone when she informed them that their boy was almost hit by a falling pine tree. She would leave that little piece of information until the others returned.  
  
Kristen wasn't really satisfied with the half-hearted explanation but knew that they had to worry about getting Lucas dry and warm first.  
  
"Nathan, you go with Lucas and get the hot shower started and him in it. I will fix us all a nice jug of hot cider for when the others get back." Kristen now said. "How far are the others behind you?"  
  
"Did somebody mention us?" Ben Krieg asked as they walked through the door without knocking. He and Ford were on the front end of the pine tree while Tim and Miguel were grumbling about how they got stuck with the heavier end.  
  
"ACHOO" Lucas said sneezing again which promptly brought Nathan back to reality about the hot shower.  
  
"We will all talk shortly" he said as went into Lucas's bedroom. "You get out of those wet clothes Lucas and I will get the shower nice and hot for you and find some dry clothes." Lucas did as he was told.  
  
The pine tree had been set up in one corner of the room and although it brightened the room somewhat with his green needles. It also looked a little bare at the moment they all noticed.  
  
"So how did Lucas manage to get all wet from the snow?" Bridger asked the rest of the crew while Lucas was getting changed from his wet clothes.  
  
Everybody's eyes quickly fell on Ben to come up with an answer that Bridger would be happy about. None of them were too happy in explaining to the Captain what had almost happened to his favourite person.  
  
"Well you see sir...." Ben started to say, trying to think of a easy get away for everybody. Then changing his mind all together and deciding that the doctor and the Captain deserved to know what really happened on their tree hunting expedition, Ben told them about the near miss with the teenager and the tree.  
  
Bridger had paled slightly when he was told how close the boy had come to being tangled up in the falling tree's branches. He had been so relieved to hear about Ben's quick reflexes and actions in knocking the boy off his feet to avoid injury.  
  
Ben assured Bridger and the doctor that Lucas was fine, just a little wet from the snow as they had seen. The Captain decided to leave it at that as the boy didn't seem any worse for wear. Although they had all heard him sneezing once or twice, the hot shower and warm clothes should help to cull the onset of any cold or flu.  
  
About half an hour later, a much warmer Lucas now came out into the living room of Bridger's cabin and sat down on the sofa next to Ben. All of the crew were seated there, idly talking about anything and everything.  
  
While Lucas had been in taking his shower, Kristen had made the jug of cider and was now making something else for everyone. It was the surprise that she had told Lucas about back at the shopping centre in Aspen.  
  
The crew turned their heads towards the small kitchenette of the cabin at the most delicious aroma they could smell wafting towards them.  
  
"What is that wonderful smell?" Katie asked for everybody as they all lifted their noses into the air and just inhaled the warm scented smells.  
  
"Freshly made popcorn" Kristen said. "But they are not for eating just yet." she warned as she now walked over to Commander Ford and Tim O'Neill and handed them each a large sewing needle and a length of string.  
  
"Um doctor, I think I have to warn you that I didn't take sewing lessons back in high school" Ford joked as he looked a little confused at the needle and string.  
  
"No silly, it's for threading the popcorn onto the string. We can make garlands to put onto the tree you went out to get. Edible decorations" she said as she took Commander Ford's needle and threaded it with the string. Kristen laid out a large bowl of popcorn on a table in front of everyone and then carefully demonstrated how to use the needle to thread the popcorn onto the string without breaking it.  
  
After a few minutes, the crew were all sitting in the room trying to thread the small pieces of popcorn onto the string. It was harder than it looked and most of them found the popcorn breaking into pieces before they could put it onto the string.  
  
Even Lucas was trying his best to participate. He had actually made a fairly good start and had a garland of popcorn about a foot long now. Whenever one of them would break he would quickly put it into his mouth and try for another. Problem was that the popcorn was disappearing into everybody's mouth quicker than it was being threaded onto the string.  
  
After an hour of threading, the popcorn bowl on the coffee table was now empty and they had about a metre and a half of garland for the Christmas tree.  
  
Ben and Katie went to the bags and gathered everybody's Christmas decorations from the shops. For the rest of the afternoon they each took a turn in putting firstly a length of popcorn garland or tinsel around the tree. And once that was done they each placed two ornaments onto the tree for the final affect.  
  
When it was all finished, they stood back a little and gazed at the lovely sight in front of them.  
  
"Boy this is the best Christmas ever you guys" Lucas now said as he gazed at the decorated tree. "I never strung popcorn on a tree before or even put any decorations on one since I was about five" he now added.  
  
The crew couldn't help but feel a little saddened by Lucas's admission. It was Ben who voiced that opinion to the teenager.  
  
"Didn't your folks believe in Christmas at home Lucas?" Ben asked, genuinely interested in knowing but not knowing how the boy would take the question.  
  
Lucas knew that everybody felt sorry for him about what had happened in the past. But because of the fun he had been having even in just the last 48 hours, he was determined to answer the question without getting to upset about what he had missed out on in past years gone by.  
  
"Any of you remember seeing that cartoon about the Grinch before?" Lucas replied with a question of his own to everybody. "You know, the green guy who goes into the town and steals all of the presents and food and decorations and stuff?"  
  
The crew all nodded as they remembered such a cartoon from their childhood's.  
  
"Well my father was like the Grinch" Lucas said trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "He was like Scrooge, didn't believe in Christmas, thought everybody should be working on Christmas day, didn't think there was any need for a holiday or presents. His logic was that because he didn't have an ounce of Christmas spirit or cheer in him then neither should anybody else."  
  
Lucas could see the sad looks on everybody's faces. He was determined not to let the memories get to him again "But that's all in the past now anyway. So let's leave it where it belongs." he said cheerfully.  
  
"Let's go outside and play in the snow" he now said, noting that they still had another hour or so of daylight left before the temperature would start to drop even more again.  
  
The crew couldn't help but admire the kid's gumption. They remembered what the Captain had told them about making this the best darned Christmas Lucas had ever had and they aimed to see it all happen.  
  
"Last one outside is a rotten egg" Lucas shouted with mirth and raced to the door followed closely behind by everybody else.  
  
"Hey Lucas let's build a snowman!" Ben announced once they were outside.  
  
"Okay, but I have never done it before" Lucas replied with enthusiasm.  
  
"Let me show you how it's done my boy" Ben said as he draped an arm around Lucas's neck and led him over to a fairly flat and even piece of ground not far from the cabin.  
  
Lucas's enthusiasm soon waned as he walked around the area, rolling a large ball of ice to make the bottom ball for the snowman. He didn't think trying to roll a ball of snow would be so hard on your arms and legs.  
  
To start with he had knelt down and begun rolling a small chunk of snow across the ground. He let it collect more and more snow until he had a very large ball.  
  
"Help me out would you Ben" Lucas asked, seeing that Ben was doing more of the supervisory role whilst everybody else was freezing from handling the cold, hard snow. "This is my snowman and he's getting too fat." Lucas announced when he thought the ball was big enough. The crew couldn't help but burst out in laughter at the boy's description of his would be snow creation.   
  
Ben came to help friend. Once they had the bottom one finished, Lucas groaned out loud when he was told there was another two to do yet before the snowman was anywhere near complete. They rolled, and rolled and rolled.  
  
Katie and Tim took pity on Lucas and offered to make the middle ball while he and Ben moved the large bottom one into position.  
  
"That's a great bottom, Lucas" Bridger commented, trying to keep the boy's spirit's high about the whole project. He hadn't built too many snowmen in his own lifetime he must admit.  
  
Within the hour, the crew had managed to finish rolling all three balls to make the snowman. Each of them was now stacked on top of one another and looking a little like the right shape at least.  
  
"We need other stuff to make it complete" Tim now said as they gazed at the very white and plain snowman. At the moment apart from the outline, you couldn't even really tell it was meant to be a snowman. It was just three balls of snow stacked onto of each other in a tower formation.  
  
"We need a hat and a scarf for him don't we" Lucas now suggested, remembering from pictures he had seen on TV and other sources about what snowmen were supposed to look like.  
  
"Yeah Lucas, and pieces of charcoal to make the eyes and mouth" Tim added in.  
  
"Don't forget a carrot for his nose" Kristen said as she smiled that the crew's playful antics. Unlike Bridger she had managed to make quite a few snowmen during her childhood.  
  
"Um people, we had better leave the snowman decorating to tomorrow" Bridger now said as he glanced up at the sky and noted the failing light and the light snow flakes just starting to drift down from the heavens.  
  
Everybody reluctantly agreed that it was best to leave it until the next day. They all headed into their assigned cabins for that hot shower but this time there was a line up at each bathroom as they all needed to have one this time and not just Lucas.  
  
"Did we make it okay out there?" Lucas asked, wanting Bridger's opinion on their building project.  
  
Bridger could see that although his comments were going to bring the end of the world for the teenager, Lucas was searching for approval. It wasn't a new thing this approval seeking. Something that Lucas had probably been looking for all of his life and never got from his parents.  
  
"It's great Lucas. Just needs the little bits and pieces tomorrow to make him come to life" Bridger now said with honesty.  
  
With the wind picking up outside that evening, everybody voted for getting their meals delivered to the cabins and spending a nice cosy little night inside where it was warm.  
  
They had all ordered hot meals together with piping hot soup for entrée to warm their insides before the main meal.  
  
The crew had spent a relaxing night watching TV and all of the various Christmas variety shows that were programmed. It was now the 23rd December, two more days until Christmas day so there were lots of movies about Christmas and Santa Claus and his reindeer. Lucas had enjoyed everyone they had watched until his eyelids began to feel heavy and he started dozing off on the couch.  
  
Kristen woke him sufficiently enough to go to bed before he could fall fully asleep on the couch and need moving once they all retired for the night. She made sure that she listened to his chest as she wrapped the blankets tightly around him as he snuggled down into the bed. She was pleased when she couldn't hear any signs of a cold or cough from earlier in the day.  
  
"Good night Lucas" she whispered and smiled at the drowsy mumble she got in response.  
  
**************************************************************************** ******  
  
Kristen had walked back into the living room and announced that she was also going to bed for the night. Bridger told the other crew members that they could stay as long as they liked in their cabin before excusing himself and going to bed also. Tomorrow was going to be a great new experience for most of them and he wanted to make sure that he was fully awake for it all.  
  
With the Captain and the good doctor now retired for the night, Ben Krieg looked back towards his fellow crew members with mischief written all over his face. He had carefully hidden the red ribbons and bow that he had purchased from the shopping centre and now it was time to bring them out and use them.  
  
Ben had told them all to meet back in Bridger's cabin in the pre-dawn hours. He didn't want to risk Lucas waking up before the prank was sprung or ruined because the boy had rolled over in his sleep.  
  
Ben had taken pleasure in digging all involved in the ribs at 5.30am the next morning but then they had all set about doing their part.  
  
Katie told everybody that she was taking no part in whatever prank they had in store for Lucas thanks to her ex-husband, but because she was sleeping in the same room as Lucas, she soon found herself being roped in as lookout in case the Captain or Doctor should come in to check on the teenager before they were finished.  
  
Tim busied himself with writing out the extra large size gift tag that was bought, whilst Ben, Miguel and Jonathan went about sneaking into Lucas's room without being heard.  
  
They were a little worried that the teenager might be in a light sleep and could wake up before they were finished. Now they were standing over Lucas's bed and were glad to see that the boy was deeply asleep. Ben had even tried to wake the teenager by brushing the blond hair off his face, but much to their relief he hadn't even stirred at Ben's touch.  
  
Miguel handed Ford one end of the wide red ribbon and this was carefully tied loosely around Lucas's feet, securing them together. The other end was then draped around his arms and then finally secured around his neck. They had wanted to wrap it around his chest too but thought moving him so the ribbon could be placed underneath him might wake him no matter how deep his sleep.  
  
When all the ribbon was used the three of them stood back towards the doorway and took note of their wrapping expertise. Tim now walked in and whistled at what they had done to Lucas. He wasn't sure that the Captain and Kristen were going to be very happy at all about what they were doing. He was pretty sure that Lucas was going to have some words to say about it all in the morning.  
  
It was all in harmless fun though and at the end of the day they didn't think too many sparks would fly. They could scarcely keep from laughing though about how Lucas was going to react when he woke up in the morning.  
  
"Have you got the tag all written out Tim?" Ben now asked. Tim nodded and handed the tag to him to peruse first for approval.  
  
Ben smiled when he read the inscription that Tim had written. Now the gift tag and extra large bow were secured in place around Lucas's neck, just under his chin. It's careful placement slightly to the side should mean that Lucas shouldn't feel it against his skin if he rolled over before he woke up. They weren't so sure about the ribbon wrapped around his feet and arms, but they hoped and prayed that the kid didn't move around too much in the next couple of hours. Chances were that the Captain would be awake in another hour or so anyway.  
  
None of the team could go back to sleep after they had finished preparing the surprise for the Captain, so they had gone about cooking breakfast for him and Kristen before they awoke. They were going to need something as a means of bribery they thought.  
  
As if on cue, Bridger found himself awake at 6:45am. He laughed out loud to himself about managing to oversleep an extra fifteen minutes this morning before putting on his robe and slippers and heading out into the living room area.  
  
He was a little startled to say the least when the majority of the crew were seated at the table eating breakfast.  
  
"Morning Captain" came the cheerful greeting from Tim O'Neill.  
  
"Morning" Bridger said, looking around suspiciously at the room as if something was amiss. He knew that they were all up to something but he couldn't work out what.  
  
"What's going on you guys?" he decided to ask straight forward.  
  
"Oh I think Santa Claus came a little earlier for you this year Sir" Ben now said, a little too formerly for Bridger's liking. Ben very rarely greeted any superior officer with "Sir" unless he had to. The fact that he said it this morning of all days, make Bridger even more suspicious. He could see the crew trying to hide smirks and grins behind their coffee cups so whatever it was couldn't be too bad.  
  
Ben pointed in the direction of Lucas's room for the Captain and watched the man head towards there. All quickly got up from the table and stood behind Bridger as he entered the teenager's room.  
  
When he turned on the light, at first he was stunned to say the least. His eyes took in all of the red ribbon and bows but it took a few more seconds for it to sink in that Lucas was actually underneath all of the decorations.  
  
Bridger chuckled to himself as it hit him what the crew had done. He walked over softly, seeing that the teenager was still asleep and not wanting to disturb him. He could see that they had done a good job in wrapping him up in the ribbon. He couldn't imagine what the boy's reaction was going to be when he did wake up.  
  
Bridger now bent over slightly and allowed himself to read the gift tag that was adorning Lucas's neck. It read:  
  
To the Captain:  
  
We found this young man and thought that you might be able to take in him in and give him a home. He needs guidance, support and somewhere to live for a while. He is also in need of an extra dose of patience and understanding but above all else, love.  
  
We hope you approve of what we picked out and trust that you will do the right thing.  
  
Merry Xmas - your crew  
  
"Thanks to all of you, I actually think it's a great gift rather than a practical joke" Bridger said, hoping they didn't see the mist that he wiped away from his eyes suddenly. To him he couldn't have thought of a better gift to receive this year than Lucas. Obviously the crew thought the same way he did too and he was grateful for that.  
  
"Your welcome Captain" came from them all in unison.  
  
"And just what are you going to tell him when he wakes up?" Bridger now said, thinking back to Lucas's reaction to it all.  
  
"Um we were sort of thinking that you might be able to speak up for us Captain" Ben now said in fun.  
  
Kristen had now awoken and joined them all at the doorway. They all stood aside so that the doctor could walk into the room and survey what they had done.  
  
She could scarcely hold back a laugh when she saw Lucas trussed up like a prized turkey, meant to be an early Christmas gift for the Captain. She too read the note and smile at the genuine heart felt message that they had all meant.  
  
Lucas still hadn't stirred by this time and had yet to notice that he was wrapped up in red ribbon so they all left to enjoy their breakfast and leave him wake up on his own.  
  
They didn't have to wait long though when a resounding "BEN...... WHAT THE HELL  
  
...... BEN KRIEG WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME" came from within the bedroom.  
  
All of them laughed heartily at the teenager's comments. It was just the reaction they had been looking for. After a few minutes of more threats to do bodily injury to a certain Lieutenant if they didn't help get him out of his bondage, Ben did go to help his friend.  
  
Once he was all untied, Lucas had been a little more relaxed about the whole idea and after reading the gift tag had laughed along with the rest of them at himself. He didn't plan to let this little exercise go without retaliation though. And it was halfway through his breakfast that an idea came to him that could get them all back at once.  
  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED.......  
  
Sorry folks, I promised a few people that this whole story would be totally up on Christmas Eve or  
  
Christmas Day for you all. Whilst I still aim to do just that, my hopes of getting it all finished in time are slowly fading. I have written what would normally take me a week and a half or so in about three days so please don't hate me if I don't quite keep to schedule.  
  
Many many thanks to Sammie who helped read this story to see if it made sense. Thanks again.  
  
Some of the information I have used in this story including the name of the snow resort actually exist, but I did not to offend them or anything else I have written about buy using their names in my story. I used them to help bring the story to life.  
  
There is about the same amount of writing to do yet. The elfy bits will be in the next part - nothing to over the top this time though - this is supposed to be a Christmas story where everybody lives happily ever after but it wouldn't be my story if there wasn't something a little nasty about to happen in the middle.  
  
Please let me know what you think as this is my first Christmas story of any description. As stated before, I don't know anything about snow, ice, Aspen or even how Christmas is celebrated in other parts of the world so please don't be offended if I don't get it quite right.  
  
May all of you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year for 2003. Lots more writing to come next year, finishing off a few old ones and a whole new set of stories to hopely keep you entertained until this time next year.  
  
  
  
JULES 


	2. CHAPTER 2

THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENT  
PART TWO  
  
Lucas quickly finished his breakfast and then excused himself to get dressed for the day. Everybody else had been busy doing exactly the same thing so they barely noticed the teenager disappear out the front door in his heavy jacket and boots.  
  
Once outside, Lucas had carefully, and silently climbed up to the low roof of the cabins. He made sure that he was out of sight from the reception building. He didn't think they would take his idea of revenge very well when they saw him perched up on top of a snow-laden roof.  
  
They all still had over forty minutes before they were due to meet Andrew for the morning's activities. Plenty of time to put his little revenge plan into effect.  
  
"Captain could you come here please?" Lucas now said in a loud enough voice to be heard back inside the cabin.  
  
"Is Lucas outside already?" Bridger asked noting the teenager's absence from the cabin.  
  
Katie and Kristen looked around the room as did the others who were still seated, finishing off their morning beverages of coffee or hot chocolate. They too were all surprised to see Lucas missing.  
  
All of them tried to think back but could not remember Lucas telling them they he was leaving. Nor could any of them actually admit to seeing the teenager going through the front door.  
  
Lucas was still perched on the roof of the cabin. He had patiently waited for what he thought was a reasonable response time before calling out again. He couldn't help but grin to himself at the scene he saw before him if his plan worked like he wanted it too.  
  
"Captain, I need you outside for a moment," Lucas now said, changing the sentence slightly. "I am stuck and can't get down," he added, trying to put a little bit of urgency into his voice, hoping it would prompt all of the crew come outside.  
  
Bridger walked to the front door followed, a little concerned at the words "stuck, can't get down". Where was Lucas stuck and where was he that he couldn't get down?  
  
The crew were now standing just outside the cabin, in full view of Lucas on top of the roof. He smiled to himself as he looked down and saw them all standing in the perfect position, all oblivious to what was about to befall them all.  
  
"I'm up here," he said in a much quieter voice, making everybody turn back towards the cabin and look upwards.  
  
The crew just all stood there for a few seconds, trying to work out why Lucas was on the roof at all. How had he gotten up there in the first place?  
  
Bridger asked the question that was on everybody's lips "What are you doing up there Lucas?"  
  
"Enjoying the scenery," Lucas said innocently, the crew were watching him too carefully to note his feet shuffling around, making bigger and bigger piles of the snow that was underneath him.  
  
"What in the world possessed you to get up on the roof Lucas?" Kristen said a little more out of worry rather than frustration.  
  
"Oh nothing much, just to do this.......," Lucas said calmly before dropping down to his haunches and giving the mounds of snow and sleet he had built up a shove.  
  
The momentum was enough to move the small piles of white powdery snow and enough to gather more as the balls rolled off the roof. There wasn't a great deal of distance for the snow to travel, but the snow was able to gain a little speed due to the sloping gradient of the roof.  
  
"LOOK OUT," Ben shouted as the reality of what the teenager had in store for them hit him. He wasn't quick enough though and ended up tripping over his own two feet in his haste, falling awkwardly into Commander Ford and Miguel who subsequently started a domino effect as they all fell into untidy group on the soft snow.  
  
They all only had a brief second to shout Ben's name in utter contempt before they looked up and could see a white avalanche headed towards them. It hit them with a sodden slush, getting in their mouths, and any other crevices or folds in their clothes.  
  
As they attempted to sit up and brush some of it off, they heard the mistakable sound of laughter and looked up to see Lucas sitting on the edge of the roof now, laughing heartily at their fate.  
  
The more he looked down at them dusting the snow off, the louder and harder he laughed. The gag had worked out much better than he could have ever hoped it would have.  
  
Bridger nodded towards Commander Ford and they both could see that Lucas was revelling too much in his laughter and wasn't looking directly at anybody. Lucas's legs were dangling over the edge of the roof and were at reachable height, just above the doorway.  
  
Without warning, Lucas gave a startled cry as he found himself being physically dragged off the roof by two sets of hands. Before he could stop his descent, he soon found himself dumped on the mounds of snow and the rest of the crew vigorously joining in to immerse him in it.  
  
Bridger and Ford held him down gently to prevent his escape whilst the rest of the crew took great pleasure in making balls and letting Lucas see them in their hands before they rubbed it over his face and anywhere they could.  
  
Bridger and Ford now released Lucas and all of the crew were now laying back on the snow, laughing as though they had never before and trying to catch their breath back again. None of them could think of when they had ever had so much fun together.  
  
"That was great," Lucas finally said, his face broken with a grin that warmed all of their hearts. It had been a long time since any of them had seen such spontaneous good emotions and facial expressions from the teenager.  
  
"If I wake up with a sore back tomorrow Junior, you will have to carry my suitcase all the way home," Bridger joked as he got to his feet and offered a hand up to Lucas. Although a little chilly outside, the snow on their faces certainly revitalised their senses and made them feel alive.  
  
"Come on then old man," Lucas said, breaking away from Bridger's grip as he said the line and making a dash for it through the cabin door with the Captain promising that the comment wouldn't go without a response.  
  
The crew looked at each other briefly before they parted and new that everything was right with the world at the moment with the two most important people on this trip enjoying themselves immensely.  
  
Everybody only had enough time to go inside and get some warmth back into the ends of their fingers before the tour bus pulled up outside.  
  
Andrew, their guide from the day before got off and gave them all a cheery good morning. He found himself smiling back at the group who seemed to have found an extra source of energy that morning. He noted that everybody from the Captain down had a happy expression on their face.  
  
"Well, gauging from you lot, you are ready and raring to go this morning," he now said out loud to everyone.  
  
"We are all a bit new to this skiing thing Andrew," Bridger now said on everybody's behalf.  
  
"Don't worry, there will be lots of beginners like you out on the snow today," Andrew informed them with a laugh. He had heard the story a million times over. People too ashamed to admit that they had never skied before in their lives. But that's what they were at a resort to do.  
  
"If you will all board the bus, we will all go to the main building of the resort and get you all suited up in the right protective clothing against the cold and then get you all kitted out for skiing. You will all need boots, skis, two sets of poles each, gloves, beanies and some hot coffee in a thermos for later when we are up on the mountain," Andrew instructed them.  
  
By the time they reached the main building, Bridger was surprised at the number of other skiers around. The crowd was building in number quite rapidly and he made a mental note to himself as well as the rest of the crew to keep an eye out for each other to prevent getting separated.  
  
Once inside the shop for their gear, Lucas walked along the wall of skis, looking at them, but not really knowing which ones he needed. There was also rows and rows of boots and baskets full of gloves and another for beanies.  
  
Bridger reached in the beanie basket and picked out the most vibrant colour he could find and handed it to the teenager.  
  
"You have got to be kidding," Lucas said as he guessed at what the Captain was suggesting to him.  
  
"No I am not kidding Lucas, I want you to put it on. At least that way I can locate you in the crowd. It wouldn't take much for you to get separated from the rest of the group," Bridger explained.  
  
"Fine," Lucas said in a rather less impressed voice though, hiding the fact that he knew the Captain was right about getting separated. He knew that there was no possible way for him to be missed in this colour hat. Bright yellow was definitely not his colour.  
  
With all of their clothing on now, including the thick layered parkas that they would need to prevent the buffeting winds on the mountains from making it even colder for them.  
  
Lucas had been given his skis and two sets of poles like Andrew had said. He didn't see the point in two sets of poles until Andrew pointed out that it would be rather difficult to get around with one pole if the other broke.  
  
He had his boots on, although he had needed help to get them on in the first place. They felt incredibly heavy and kept his ankle in a vice like grip to prevent any added stress to one of the most vulnerable areas when skiing.  
  
The only other piece of equipment that he had that was distinctive apart from his beanie, was the backpack he now wore loosely over his shoulder. Inside was a spare pair of dry gloves, a thermos full of hot drink and a few energy bars that would keep his stomach happy until they returned for lunch.  
  
The crew all met at the bus as their skis were loaded on top of the vehicle. This was the first chance Ben and Miguel had seen Lucas with his new brightly coloured beanie on. A few snide remarks had been made about standing out, but mostly Lucas ignored them and grumbled his way towards the back of the bus.  
  
Once the bus started moving, Lucas was only interested in the white wonderland that was before them. The journey to the ski fields was only about 20 minutes in actual time, but the teenager had his face pressed against the glass mesmerized by the stark landscape that was incredibly beautiful at the same time. Soon the bus was pulling up to a stop and the driver could be heard over the microphone "Welcome everyone to the snow fields. When you step off the bus, there are four guides out there who will ask your level of skiing confidence and then direct you to the most appropriate area for your skills. If you are a first timer and beginner, there will be instructors waiting about twenty minutes from the bus to take you through your workout routine and then start to teach you the basics of skiing."  
  
"I must stress to you all about the importance of adhering to the instructions of your guides at all times. Make sure you return to the bus before 12.30 to begin the ride back to the resort for the lunch break. After lunch, another driver will bring you back out to the snow fields again if you wish or to one of the other activities listed in the resort brochure," the driver explained.  
  
"Outstanding!!," Lucas said out loud to nobody as he exited the tour bus. Nothing could have prepared him for the scenery in front of him. The stark whiteness of the snow for miles and miles in all directions took his breath away. He had never seen beauty like that on such a large scale before.  
  
For the next ten minutes, as the other passengers unloaded from the bus, Lucas stood out by himself, drinking in the beautiful and pristine landscape. The clean, cold air filled his lungs as he breathed deeply and his senses were invaded with the scene of pine needles.  
  
"Nice to look at isn't it," a voice said behind the teenager. Lucas felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see the Captain standing beside him looking out over the white beyond. The openness of the area allowed them to totally shut out the sounds of the other tourists that were fighting to gain places on the chair-lifts.  
  
"Yeah, really nice. I have never seen something so white before," Lucas stated. "Come on, I suppose we had better join the que for the chair lifts or we will be getting to the lesson just as it ends."  
  
Lucas was a little apprehensive as it finally became his turn to ride the chair-lift. Bridger was beside him as they both looked behind and saw the approaching lift. With a bit of an awkward little jump to reach the bench style seat, the teenager found himself sitting crookedly.  
  
There was a steel support between himself and the Captain that was bolted to the actual monorail line. At first it seemed like a strange kind of amusement park ride until they were out over the ski fields.  
  
Lucas held his breath in slightly at the height they were at. Although there was no real risk of falling from so high up, he was a little afraid to even inch his way closer to Bridger.  
  
Bridger however must have noticed the slightly worried look on his face or felt the boy's fear through his mind with his special gift. He leaned over and put reassuring hand over Lucas's that was resting on the seat beside him.  
  
The chair-lift ride was shortly over, for which Lucas was slightly grateful. He secretly hoped that they didn't have to do that too many times today.  
  
The rest of the crew had ridden the chair lifts in pairs behind Lucas and Bridger. Ben had sat beside Kristen, and Katie beside Commander Ford, leaving Tim O'Neill and Miguel to share a lift together.  
Yes its true - I actually moved to Mars for a while and that's what stopped me from finishing this story and then real life got in the way (darn). As can see I am trying to catch up with all of my writing - this chapter will be added to shortly so after you have read this chapter come back in a few more days to see the rest of it (I hope)  
  
Just think - Christmas in July this year !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Just wanted to let you all know that I haven't disappeared forever - just yet......  
  
JULES 


	3. CHAPTER 3

THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENT  
  
Part Three  
  
The chair-lift slowed down significantly and was about to halt when Ben Krieg jumped off the chair he and Kristen were riding. Kristen had seen him wanting to jump off rather than wait for the lift to completely stop, but by the time she moved to pull him back, Ben's feet had already landed firmly on the hardened snow.  
  
Ben took a step to the side to avoid being struck by the chair lifts behind him carrying the rest of the crew, but his footing became a little unsteady and he found himself promptly dumped on his read end in the snow in front of his friends and anybody else on the chair lift.  
  
Commander Ford roared with laughter at Ben's mishap. He always wanted to see the Lieutenant on the other end of his own pranks and although this didn't make up for all the times before, it went a long way towards it. Jonathan laughed even harder at the unhappy look he was getting from Krieg at his mirth.  
  
The rest of the crew, including Bridger and Lucas were also laughing as they now got off the completely stopped lift.  
  
Katie walked over and stood in front of her ex-husband with a smirk on her face. "How many times do you have to be told to look before you leap Ben?" she said jokingly. "Or in this case, look after you leap," she added.  
  
"Very funny Katie," Ben grumbled as he pulled himself up. He lost his footing again though and fell back onto the snow-packed ground, sending the crew into howls of laughter again as his new found clumsiness.  
  
Needless to say, Ben's unintentional comic act had lifted the crew's already excited mood as they headed towards one of the areas signed "Beginner's Area."  
  
Once they reached the snowfields a little higher up in the mountains, they were surprised at just how flat some of the area was. It was these plateau looking areas that the instructors used for teaching beginner lessons and people could use to warm up before heading back down the slopes.  
  
As Lucas walked over to the skiing area with the crew, his eyes were drawn to the snow under his feet. It felt so hard and compact at the moment, but at the same time when he had picked it up and felt it in his hand back at the motel, it had been so cold and almost fragile in his fingers.  
  
"Don't worry Lucas, it will hold your weight," Bridger said playfully as he tried to gauge what the teenager was thinking about all of the white snow they were walking on.  
"No it's not that," Lucas replied, "It's just so strange to see so much of it all at once," he explained. He looked up and stopped his scientific examination of the material under his feet as they reached the place where they were supposed to meet the skiing instructor.  
  
Lucas looked about the group of people apart from the crew and noticed that there were a couple of younger teenage girls in a group no too far away. He acted shyly towards them and turned away when they looked at him, but that only made the girls giggle more.  
  
"Need some help there Lucasman?" Ben said as he now came up behind the teenager. He had seen the girls eyeing his blond friend off and although they were way too young for Ben to be interested in, he saw this as an opportunity to display his "matching-making abilities" to their fullest potential.  
  
"Thanks but no thanks," Lucas said in quick reply as he noticed the girls stopped looking his way after Ben arrived on the scene.  
  
"Hello everyone," came a voice from up front of the group. Lucas and the rest of the crew turned to see a very tall, rugged looking man, decked out in all of his ski equipment, standing there.  
  
"Hi," came the reply from some of the people in the group.  
  
"My name is Sven and I will be the instructor for the beginners class today," the man announced. "I will teach you some of the basic techniques today in the sport of skiing, but don't be too alarmed or disappointed if you don't get it right first go. Some people seem to pick up the sport easily; some just need a little more practice. Whatever your skill level here today, I just want you to relax and enjoy yourselves. We are not here for an exceedingly long time this morning, but hopefully a fun time."  
  
"What I would like you all to do first is form a long straight line horizontal line in front of me so that I can check that you have all of your equipment and that you are using it correctly," the man instructed.  
  
Lucas and everyone else complied with the man's request, forming a straight line. He found himself jammed in the middle between Bridger and Ben, but then everybody started to spread out some and give him a little more space of his own.  
  
For the next five minutes or so, Sven walked from person to person, showing them how to grip their ski poles correctly and making sure that their skis were securely attached to their boots.  
  
As the instructor bent down to check Lucas's boots were attached to his skis properly, the man looked up and noticed the slightly worried look on the young man's face.  
  
"Don't worry son, I am not your regular drill sergeant," he joked, knowing that his height and size often led people to believe that they were in for a day of basic army training rather than skiing.  
  
"Pity because I know of somebody who could use a lesson in discipline," Jonathan Ford commented, looking directly at Ben Krieg as he said the words.  
  
Sven looked at Ben and the two of them winked at each other secretly, hoping to take the prank for all it was worth. The large skiing instructor now walked up to Commander Ford with a very determined attitude written all over his face.  
  
"Did I hear somebody speak out of line?" Sven said doing his best but poorly executed drill sergeant's voice. "Well you listen to me little miss," he said without so much as cracking a smile. The man stood shoulder to shoulder to Ford and was about two inches taller, making it possible for him to look down at the dark-skinned man.  
  
"You're on my time now and if you think you are here for a holiday of fun filled action, skiing and spending time with your friends then you are absolutely right," he continued.  
  
Commander Ford coped the prank in a good-natured way. He knew that the man was trying to ease Lucas's concerns at first. Looking over towards the teenager, he could see him laughing like he had earlier that morning at the  
  
cabins. He thought a little fun poked at him was okay.  
  
By this time, the rest of the crew and some of the other people in the group were howling with laughter at the man's antics. He seemed a natural at being able to cheer the group up at short notice.  
  
Ben had tears of laughter at the man's address of Commander Ford as "little Miss". He couldn't have thought of a better line himself. He was happy to note that Lucas still seemed to be enjoying himself. It was almost becoming a world record for the teenager how many times he had been seen laughing and smiling over the last few days.  
  
"Okay, now to get started people, I want to get you stretching your arm and leg muscles so that they are a little warmed up before you begin starting to ski. If you don't warm up properly then your muscles may cramp up and that can be painful, believe me," Sven now instructed.  
  
For the next ten minutes, the entire group went through the motions of exercising their arms. Then their legs. Then moving their hips from side to side to warm up various other parts of their bodies.  
  
The crew didn't realise how much living under the water for most of the year took away their fitness level. Although most of them used the gym equipment supplied on the boat, it was obvious from the way they were breathing heavily and beginning to ache all over that the use of the gear wasn't enough.  
  
"At the rate I am going, it's going to be a crawl back to the tour bus rather than walking," Kristen joked as she winced at the soreness of her unused leg muscles as she continued the exercises.  
  
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Bridger replied, noting just how old all of this exercise made him feel. He looked over at the other crew members and could see most of them moaning and groaning as well.  
  
The ski instructor then went on to show the group how to bend their knees and use the energy within them to allow subtle changes in direction. They could alter the way they were travelling with a slight twist of the body that would allow them to avoid on coming obstacles when they started actually skiing back down the slopes.  
  
Although the instructor knew the most people took on average three or four lessons to master the basic techniques that would enable them to manoeuvre, most people wanted to be reassured that they would get the hang of things first time.  
  
If they were told that they needed a lot more practice after only a few minutes, then most people lost their self-confidence and didn't return to the lessons after the first one.  
  
Sven found that by just giving them a little self-esteem and encouragement, most people would take the time to try and increase their skill level with a second or third lesson.  
  
"Okay, that's enough of the warm up exercise stuff for the moment. Now although you might feel a little nervous at first. I am now just going to let you all divide into your own little groups or pairs and test out your equipment and the snow. I will be coming over to give each of you some more tips and pointers, but the only way you ready build up your skills is to practice and then practice some more," Sven now stated.  
  
Out of the SeaQuest contingent, Kristen found herself with the most confidence and she moved out on her own a little further away from the other skiers. She was more familiar with the surface than most of them and had worn skis once or twice before.  
  
Ben, Miguel and Tim group together in a threesome but remained fairly close to where they had been exercising. Whilst Miguel and Tim found that they could at least stay upright on their skis, the same couldn't be said for Ben.  
  
No matter how hard he tried to gain his balance, every time he tried to move his feet a fraction of an inch apart, he found himself being dumped onto the compacted snow in a rather unflattering manner.  
  
On a few occasions he didn't even quite manage to get back on his feet again before the poles in his hands fell out from underneath him once more, returning him to the snow. Needless to say that Miguel and Tim got their entertainments worth watching their hapless friend's battle the snow and his equipment.  
  
Bridger had asked Lucas if he wanted to join him and Commander Ford, but the teenager had said that he would only slow them down and would prefer to try and master the skills on his own.  
  
Bridger flatly denied that Lucas would slow them down and he saw hints of the boy's familiar self-doubt beginning to re-emerge. Lucas had finally persuaded the Captain that he truly just wanted to try and work out the technique for himself. He hoped that he could get some more instruction from Sven and promised to join them after a little while.  
  
Although not altogether happy about Lucas preferring to be on his own initially, Bridger reluctantly agreed but secretly reminded himself to keep check of where the teenager was for most of their time on the snowfields. The colourful beanie would give the boy's position away and make him stand out enough against the white background.  
  
For the next hour, Lucas tried and tried his best to master the basic techniques of skiing. He even had a one on one session with Sven for ten minutes to try and correct all of the things he wasn't getting quite right.  
  
Unfortunately though, Sven's time was demanded by many of the other beginners in the group and so the instruction that he gave was brief and of very little real help to Lucas.  
  
The instructor couldn't help but notice the boy's lack of interest in skiing. He didn't voice his opinion out loud to anybody, but it was clear to him that Lucas would rather be doing something else on the snow.  
  
After that hour, Lucas separated his boots from the skis and was happy enough just to enjoy the sunshine and scenery. He rubbed at his boots a number of times as he felt the back heel of the boot chafing his ankle. His legs ached a little from the awkward angle that his foot was forced to remain at inside the boot. It was a normally unnatural angle and would take more than one day to get used to.  
  
As Lucas watched his friends out on the snowfields, he couldn't help but notice how much fun they seemed to be having on the snow. Kristen was now laughing and talking to Bridger and Commander Ford whilst Kate Hitchcock had joined Tim and Miguel's group.  
  
From the looks of things, Ben hadn't mastered the techniques any better than Lucas had, but he was continually trying and setting off his friends of into fits of laughter at his trials and tribulations.  
  
With all of the crew seemingly enjoying themselves, Lucas didn't feel right about telling Bridger that he didn't quite like skiing. The man had gone to considerable expense for all of the crew for this holiday. He would keep his feelings to himself for the time being.  
  
At about 12:20 pm the group began taking all of their equipment back to the bus. The crew were a little surprised to see Lucas already sitting outside the bus with his skis and poles already stowed on top.  
  
"All pack up Lucas?" Bridger asked, a little unsure as to why Lucas was at the bus before anybody else and how long he had been sitting there.  
  
"Yep, already to head back to the cabin and get these boots off and warm up a little," the teenager replied with a grin. Lucas had only been at the bus about five minutes before everybody else, but he saw no reason to announce his reason out loud.  
  
Soon the conversation between Lucas and Bridger was all but over due to the constant chatter that now came from half a dozen different people as they all went about handing their skis and poles up to Sven on top of the bus and then climbing aboard ready to head back to the resort.  
  
The bus driver seemed pleased enough that everybody was on time and then as a routine procedure, checked off passengers names against the manifest he had of all he had driven to the snow fields. They couldn't afford to be complacent and accidentally leave somebody behind.  
  
"So how did you go Lucas?" Bridger asked, genuinely interested in how Lucas had spent the remainder of his time since the lesson ended. Lucas hadn't caught up with the Captain or Commander Ford like he promised and Bridger had only caught glimpses of the teenager out on the snow due to the beanie he wore.  
  
"Oh okay I guess," Lucas said trying not to avoid the topic altogether so that he might disappoint Bridger. Neither Nathan or Lucas were aware that Sven had overheard the question and answer.  
  
"Just okay?" Bridger said in a joking manner. Lucas only nodded his head in reply on this occasion.  
  
Bridger could somehow tell that the teenager was walking around the question. He didn't want to embarrass the young man in front of the rest of the crew or passengers and reminded himself to have a private chat with Lucas once they had gotten back to the cabin.  
  
When the tour bus pulled up outside the resort's reception area, everybody got off in an orderly fashion and then tried to stretch some of the stiffness out of their muscles before heading to their respective rooms.  
  
Kristen promised to make a double batch of hot chocolate as everyone complained about how cold they all felt all of a sudden. Out of the snowfields had been as equally chilly, especially with the breeze blowing. They just must not have felt it as much they all said to themselves as they went to get warm anyway they could.  
  
Katie Hitchcock excused herself from the others in the room telling them that she was talking the first hot shower if nobody had any objections. Nobody said anything to the contrary.  
  
As soon as Lucas sat down on the couch in the room, he was immediately undoing the buckles on his skis boots to get them off as quickly as he could. Bridger was looking over at him and could hear soft winces as Lucas struggled to free his feet.  
  
"Need some help there junior?" Bridger asked as he grabbed a hold of one boot and yanked it off.  
  
"Yes please," Lucas answered through clenched teeth. The chilly air temperature seemed to make the chafed area sting even more. He know glanced upon his heel and noticed it to be pinkish in colour where the skin had been literally worn away by the rubbing action of the boot. No wonder it had felt so uncomfortable out on the snowfields.  
  
As Kristen placed a mug of hot chocolate beside the teenager, she couldn't help but notice his feet and the chafing that was present.  
  
"That looks very sore Lucas," Kristen stated and then went back into the bedroom to get some of her first aid supplies from her bag. "I will get a bowl of hot water and put some of this herbal remedy in so you can soak your feet." she added once she returned to the living area.  
  
"I hope Sven has a better idea for your boots once we head back out in the bus this afternoon," Bridger said knowing that putting the same boots back on even after treatment, would only result in further damage to Lucas's heel.  
  
"You mean I have to go back out," Lucas now said, forgetting for a moment that he wasn't going to say anything about not wanting to go.  
  
"You don't want to go back to the snowfields Lucas?" Kristen now asked, a little surprise in her voice. She hadn't suspected anything like that when they had returned on the bus.  
  
Bridger could see the guilt written on Lucas's face about saying anything, "It's okay if you don't want to go skiing again Lucas."  
  
"Are you okay about it?" Lucas said with a downcast look. "I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to ruin your fun." he said trying to explaining his earlier silence.  
  
"Your not mad at me are you?" Lucas asked  
  
"Of course I am not mad at you. Not everybody likes skiing Lucas. If you don't like it, we will talk to Sven about finding something to do on the snowfields that you do like." Bridger said in a reassuring tone.  
  
Lucas looked towards Kristen to confirm what was just said. He didn't want to make them feel bad just because he wasn't enjoying the skiing part. Kristen however read the doubt on his face and answered with a quick hug and a genuine smile that it was okay.  
  
Kristen now turned her attention to fixing up Lucas's chafed feet. She placed the bowl of steaming hot water in front of the teenager on the floor and then point to him to submerge his feet in the water.  
  
"YEEOOWWW," Lucas complained as the hot water stung his feet badly. Kristen now added a few drops of the herbal remedy to the water and an aromatic steam now wafted up to their senses, giving the room a wonderful smell.  
  
"Sorry honey, but you keep those feet in that water. The stinging should subside as soon as your feet are used to the water," she explained.  
  
Just as Lucas did what he was asked and tried to relax against the back of the couch while his feet soaked in the herbal water, Ben and the rest of the crew came through the door. Katie had answered the knock while towelling dry her hair.  
  
"What's up Lucas?" Ben asked immediately as he noticed the teenager's feet sitting in a bowel of water.  
  
"Those boots tore all the skin off my heels," Lucas replied sitting up a little at the appearance of his friends.  
  
"Speaking of stinging doc," Ben said as he gingerly rubbed his backside in a soothing motion. "Fell down so many times out on those snowfields, I think my butt is frozen solid," he added with a grimace as he took up sitting in an arm chair near Lucas.  
  
Bridger and the rest of the crew just laughed heartily at the Lieutenant's admission. "I don't think there is much of a remedy for that Ben." he said, trying to at least sound sympathetic. It was quite a battle to keep a straight face though as he tried not to think of where the injury was.  
  
"Oh yes there is," Kristen said with a devilish laugh. "I could always put a hot pack on the troublesome area Mr Krieg. Katie would you like to assist?" she added, looking at the Commander with mischief written on her face.  
  
"I can help doctor," Katie said as she went to move closer to her ex- husband.  
  
"Ah no thanks ladies," Ben said as he quickly scrambled out of the arm chair before the two vixens could lay a hand on him. "That area is for restricted personnel only," he commented, sending everyone in the room into fits of laughter all over again.  
  
"But, I have seen it all before Ben dear," Katie said smoothly still trying to get a hand on Ben. She made sure that she emphasised the "But" part of the sentence.  
  
Excuse me, but my butt has had enough jokes for today," Ben said, not wanting to be left out of the play on words. The atmosphere in the room was light and happy despite the cold weather outside.  
  
Their attention was diverted from the topic of conversation by a knock at the front door, much to Ben Krieg's relief. Bridger moved to answer whoever it was.  
  
"Hi Sven," he said cheerfully, announcing the man's presence to the rest of the crew. "What can I do for you?"  
  
"It's what I had in mind for you and Lucas actually," the instructor said as he noted the teenager sitting on the couch in the living room. By now, Kristen had just begun to pat dry his feet and put some squares of plaster tape over the chafed area to protect them.  
  
"See you have had a rough time of it," Sven commented as he saw the rawness of Lucas's heels. That sort of discomfort would have only added to him not wanting to be out on the snowfields.  
  
"Can you suggest anything else that might help him this afternoon?" Bridger now enquired.  
  
"I know you didn't particularly have a good time out there this morning Lucas and I am sorry about that," Sven said. "I think I have come up with a solution though that will solve both your dislike of the skiing as well as your sore feet."  
  
Lucas's curiosity was now heightened at what the man had in store for him for the rest of the day. "What idea have you got Sven?" he asked, putting his thoughts into words.  
  
"Well, if your folks there agree as well as you, I would like to send you on the tour bus with the snow-boarders." he began, and quickly got in with the next sentence as he spied the doubtful looks on the faces of the crew. "Don't get me wrong, I wasn't going to suggest you participate, rather just be a spectator, he explained.  
  
"You mean just look," Kristen said now that her initial concern and anxiety had dissipated.  
  
"I am sure that it would be more interesting for you than skiing Lucas and there are some young people your age going on the bus," Sven said.  
  
"Sounds great, but I don't know about putting those boots back on my feet," Lucas commented.  
  
"That's why I suggested just being a spectator Lucas, that way you can wear normal footwear that won't aggravate your sore feet any further," Sven said. "You should be okay just to wear normal enclosed footwear. You just won't be able to walk to far into the deeper snow with them that's all."  
  
"It may become a little boring after you have seen enough of it, but hopefully there will be enough action out there from the boarders to keep your attention for the majority of the time that we are out there this afternoon," Sven added.  
  
"Where do the snowboarders go," Bridger now asked, wanting to know the ins and outs of the whole idea before Lucas went. He didn't want to stop the teenager from having fun, but the protectiveness within him wanted to know that Lucas was safe at all times.  
"They go on a different bus to you Captain Bridger, up a little higher into the mountain itself. Some of the boarders who are very experienced like to start on top of the snow ridges and use the entire slope to their advantage," Sven explained.  
  
*************************************  
  
"You have fun out there but be careful Lucas," Kristen now said as she let the teenager board the other tour bus.  
  
The crew were happy for Lucas that there were other people his own age on this bus and that he should fit in fairly easily. But none of them dared voice their secret thoughts that the afternoon would feel pretty strange without him with the group.  
  
"See you this afternoon Lucas," Ben said in a cheerful manner. "By the time you get back, I'll be sipping hot chocolate and soaking in a hot tub," the Lieutenant jibed.  
  
"Yeah, in your dreams Krieg," Lucas replied with a laugh before the automatic doors closed in front of him and the crew watched as the bus drove towards the snowboarding slopes.  
  
On the bus journey to the slopes, after listening to the boisterous group that was made up of mostly teenage boys, Lucas decided that he didn't know if he would fit in to well with this crowd. They might have been near him in age, but other than the fact they were all young, there were very few other similarities in their personalities.  
  
Lucas had joined in where he could with the conversations that were going on and when he was asked a question, but mostly they talked about snowboarding and what they were going to do when they finally got to the slopes. Sounded like they had all done this plenty of time before and Lucas was the only spectator among them.  
  
After a few minutes, the bus pulled up to their intended destination. There was a chair lift there like had been at the skiing fields but not all the boarders chose to use it. Some of those who wanted to go higher into the mountain of snow got on and could be seen riding out over the slopes. The others that were left chose to use the lower slopes and walked on top of the compacted snow to the desired areas.  
  
Lucas found himself watching out of curiosity as he watched the other young people master the boards they carried with ease. Some of them did tricks in the snow while others preferred to warm up a little first.  
  
Looking further up the mountain, Lucas could see the more extreme boarders against the white background. It looked very dangerous even from where he was standing and he was thankful that he was just enjoying watching what was going on.  
  
After about half an hour of being at the site, Lucas overheard a couple of the boarders talking about the snow being very compact, even down on the lower part of the slopes. He didn't quite know what such a comment meant in terms of being able to snowboard but he did notice the concern and worry in their voices about the boarders who were higher in the mountain.  
  
Lucas soon got tired of standing up watching all the time and conveniently found a park like bench sitting underneath a tree near the bottom of the slope. He sat down and took the weight of his tired feet.  
  
The cold snow was still causing the chafing to sting a little he noticed. He wrapped his arms tightly around himself; it seemed to be somewhat colder sitting underneath the tree due to the canopy cover it provided.  
  
Lucas hadn't realised how much the morning exercises had tired him out and he could scarcely keep his eyes open at the moment. After another ten minutes, with nobody else taking much notice of where he was, Lucas drifted off into a light doze on the bench. His head resting back against the trunk of the tree in at an awkward looking angle.  
  
*********************************************  
  
The few boarders that had travelled to the higher parts of the mountain had seen the compacted snow as a challenge to their abilities rather than a hindrance that afternoon.  
  
They found themselves turning their boards over and over in complicated moves enjoying the exhilaration that was coursing through their veins, but unaware of the danger that was only moments away for them all.  
  
One particular boarder had gone right to the top of the ridge, resting the nose of his board over the edge for a few seconds before giving an almighty animalistic call and throwing both board and rider down the snow covered slope as fast as he could.  
  
The boarder to notice the large glaciers of snow that broke away after him and started sliding down the mountain, gaining momentum as it went.  
  
His other two friends did notice and cried in fright as they watched a second glacier break away close to the top of the ridge and begin it's dangerous journey to the bottom of the slope. They immediately got on their boards and started heading down the slope as fast as they could, trying in vain to keep in front of the wall of snow that was billowing down upon them at a fast pace.  
  
Unfortunately for those three boarders, the wall caught up with before they could get anywhere near the bottom of the slope. Now with an uninhibited trail down the mountain, the avalanche of snow continued on and on, taking trees, markers and flags with it in it's wake.  
  
The instructor that had been with the boarders gasped in horror as he saw the three boarders engulfed by the wall of snow. He now jumped on the radio in the bus and started screaming out to the other end to broadcast an avalanche warning to the entire resort and to send a search and rescue squad as soon as possible.  
  
Back at the skiing fields, a siren could be heard blaring out over the snow, signalling to all skiers that they had to get off the snow fields immediately. At first, some of the group where a little alarmed at the sudden noise and didn't quite know what it meant.  
  
"What does that siren mean Sven?" Jonathan Ford asked on behalf of the crew.  
  
"It means we have to get out of here fast. It is an avalanche warning and we all need to head back to the resort quickly," Sven commented, now going through the procedures he had been taught about such an emergency.  
  
As the passengers of the ski fields boarded the bus and Sven began his head count, Bridger couldn't help but notice a foreboding feeling begin to settle in the pit of his stomach.  
  
Sven attempted to talk to the other instructor on the radio as he drove the bus back to the resort, "Where are you at the moment Ethan?" he asked, hoping to pinpoint exactly where in the mountains the avalanche had been seen. He secretly hoped that it was some distance from the resort itself.  
  
The passengers on Bridger's bus could hear the panic in the voice of the other instructor as his voice came over the radio to Sven, "I am up here with the boarders, three riders are presumed missing in the avalanche. It's huge Sven, the whole mountain just gave way with little warning. I have never seen anything like it. I don't know if they are even alive yet. I also don't know what happened to that blond kid that was with the group, no sign of him at the moment either," Ethan yelled.  
  
Bridger was almost on his feet wanting to shout back at the man on the radio himself. Lucas had been with the snow boarders and the mention of a blond kid fitted only one description in his head. He couldn't bear to think that something terrible had happened to Lucas.  
  
"I'll get the rescue crew up there on the double Ethan," Sven said not being able to hide his own fears to the safety of the riders. He looked up and saw Bridger standing there and knew he had heard the entire conversation, including the part about a missing kid: Lucas.  
  
"It might not be him Nathan," Sven said, trying to reassure the man and his crew that he had sent the boy up there only to put him in danger. His own guilt was beginning to mount as he tried to think of what to do next.  
  
*****************************************************  
A few minutes before Ethan had screamed the avalanche down the radio, Lucas had still being dozing in the bench underneath the tree.  
  
He had been brought abruptly awake by a loud roaring noise and looked up to see a white mass heading down the mountain only a few meters from him. He couldn't see anything else but the snow and barely had enough time to get off the bench before he felt himself rammed painful back into it with considerable force.  
  
Lucas felt himself been turned over and over, upside down and every which way. His breath was caught in his throat at the panic he was feeling but there was very little he could do to stop his movement with the wall of snow.  
  
The snow was even getting in this mouth and nose, cutting of his breathing even more. His shoulder was throbbing painfully after striking the corner of the park bench.  
  
Desperately he tried moving his legs to alter his course of direction, but the snow was compacted so tightly around his limbs that any sort of movement was almost impossible and he had virtually no control over where he was being taken.  
  
Lucas found himself being able to see a little in front of him, but what he saw scared him to death. The only think apart from the snow he could see was the dark shadow of a pine tree trunk in his path.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED  
  
Please note that I am not able to do as much writing at the moment as I would like and real life is intruding to a large degree. I will update all stories as I can but it will be slower than before.  
  
Please forgive me if I didn't get the avalanche part exactly right. I have only seen them on TV and am going from memory. I am not sure of what type of snow will cause an avalanche again going from documentaries I have seen.  
  
The whole thing about Lucas not liking skiing comes from my sister who went to New Zealand skiing and hated it. She liked playing in the snow but hated the actual skiing part - so I took her experience and used it for Lucas.  
  
You will also just have to believe the idea of the tree and the park bench. I didn't mean it would right in the middle of the skiing slope but off to the side somewhat. I didn't think you could just have Lucas standing out in the open and then have the avalanche mow him down.  
  
Promise more as soon as I can - hope you are liking the story so far - this part explains what I wanted to do right from the beginning - just took me quite a lot of words to get there as I set up the background somewhat.  
  
JULES 


	4. CHAPTER 4

THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENT  
  
PART FOUR  
  
As the tour bus containing Bridger and the other SeaQuest crew members, they could see from looking out the window that the resort was a hive of activity at the moment.  
  
The bus pulled up to a stop outside the main reception building and the crew now made their way towards the manager's desk with worry and concern written all over their faces.  
  
For the moment Andrew Smith seemed to be involved in a discussion with a number of people wearing rescue overalls. There was also two dogs with them, husky looking breeds that were probably going to be used in the search of those missing.  
  
Andrew Smith looked up and saw the SeaQuest party looking back at him and needing some answers as to what was the plan to rescue Lucas and the other boarders. By now he knew that the group had inadvertently heard that their teenage friend was listed amongst the missing group.  
  
"I am so sorry for this tragic accident to have happened Mr Bridger," the man said as he walked away from the rescue crew briefly and shook the Captain's hand.  
  
"I am sure that you are all most anxious to find your missing young friend," he said, not knowing how else to soften the blow to the crew. "If you will join my rescue crew, you will best hear what procedures are put in place in such a crisis to provide the maximum outcome."  
  
"The maximum outcome Mr Smith is finding Lucas alive and nothing less," Krieg now said, not really angry at the man but wanting to vent his feeling of helplessness and frustration and someone or something.  
  
Andrew quickly introduced the rescue crew to the SeaQuest group, but by the time all of the names were spoken, Nathan was sure that he couldn't remember a one due to his mind being on other things at the moment.  
  
"Let me assure you and your party Mr Bridger that these people are the best at what they do, that's why this resort hired them and their specialised animals. The dogs are used to this terrain and the elements outside and can detect most scents in the snow. Hopefully one or more of those scents will be those of our missing guests," Smith explained.  
  
"I believe you about your team Mr Smith, but I can't hide how worried I am about Lucas being out there in all that snow. What are his real chances of survival?" Bridger asked.  
  
"I can't completely answer that question for the moment Mr Bridger because our team hasn't been out to assess the accident area, the first thing that needs to be determined is what the weather conditions are going to be for the next few hours," Smith stated. "What has the weather in a few hours got to do with the rescue?" Ben asked a little impatiently, wondering why the rescue team wasn't already at the sight looking for his missing friend.  
  
"Everything actually Mr Krieg," Andrew answered honestly. "The weather looks okay out there at the moment but it change without warning and then we will have to send out a second rescue party to find the first one. I have to be sure that I am not putting more lives at risk by asking them to go out when bad weather in a chance."  
  
"Then let us go out too," Ben now suggested. He would be more than willing to go and help the rescue crew and he was sure that the rest of the crew wouldn't hesitate either.  
  
"That's definitely out of the question Mr Krieg, no matter what the weather conditions out there," Smith replied. He could see the man about to give a scathing rebuttal and so gave a quick reason first.  
  
"The reason is simple Ben. You and your people might my adept at underwater search and rescue," he stated, knowing a little information about the sorts of missions that the SeaQuest crew was asked to perform. "But the snowfields are a long way from the ocean and more dangerous than you realise. There is no second chance out there. You don't know the terrain or where you are and I cannot risk you going out there and getting lost yourself. I know that the waiting for a lost friend or family member is a terrible thing, but at the moment, the best thing you and your party can do is let the professionals do their job and bring Lucas back to you safely."  
  
"What else can our party do here Mr Smith?" Commander Ford now asked, feeling as useless as Krieg but putting his military training forward when needed.  
  
"I am grateful you asked Jonathan and I thank you for the offer," Smith said with appreciation. "Actually there is a lot you can do. With the risk of feeling like I am stereotyping here, if the boarders are found they are likely going to be injured in some way and will need first-aid treatment once they arrive back at the resort."  
  
"Doctor Westphalen, if you and your female companion there and Mr Krieg could make some temporary beds up in one of the spare cabins, that would be helpful," Smith said. "Mr Bridger, I am right in assuming that your communications officer and weapons man can read weather reports?"  
  
"Anything you need Mr Smith," Bridger instantly. "Mr O'Neill my communications officer and Mr Ortiz, the best listener aboard SeaQuest he said as he introduced Tim and Miguel.  
  
"Right this way please," Smith directed the party to a communications room at the back of the resort. He asked for them to wait until he finished briefly the rescue crew and got them underway. He issued the search party with radio equipment in the form of walkie talkies so there would be constant feedback and communication.  
  
The tour bus the skiers had used was now loaded up with search and rescue equipment and headed out of the resort towards the snow-boarding slopes. The rescue dogs were also loaded into the bus and given tracking collars around their necks so that they didn't become lost either.  
  
**********************************************  
  
The first thing Lucas was aware of was that he didn't feel anything at first. There was a complete numbness about his body that scared him.  
  
After a few more seconds, he allowed the coldness of the snow sink into his senses and awaken his brain to tell him where it hurt the most. At first he was reaching towards the throbbing pain in his head. He assumed that is what he hit the pine tree with and caused him to black out.  
  
Secondly, his shoulder started to ache and make him aware of it's pain. He moved his arms and legs but couldn't feel any injuries to them. He didn't know if the cold had caused them to feel too numb and that was why he couldn't feel anything in them.  
  
Thankfully as Lucas looked up, he noted that he had landed so that his head and most of his upper body were protruding from the mound of snow he was encased in. At least he had air to breathe and could look around his surroundings at the moment.  
  
As he did just that and note his surroundings, he found himself leaning against the trunk of the tree that had stopped his decent down the slope. The roughness of the bark was cushioned by the snow.  
  
As his senses took more note of what was going on around him, the other thing that Lucas now noticed was the silence. Total silence. And it was only now that he remembered there having been four other people out on the snow with him earlier that afternoon.  
  
Looking into the afternoon sun as, he could see no sign of anybody else. Perhaps they had not been as fortunate as him at landing above the snow. If they were caught under the avalanche of snow he wondered how long they would be able to survive with a lack of oxygen.  
  
Lucas now began thinking about what he should do about getting out of his predicament and getting some sort of help for himself and the other boarders under the snow. But the thinking process brought the throbbing headache back to his temples. He tried to massage it away with his fingertips but they were so cold that he couldn't even feel them against his skin.  
  
With the onset of evening only a couple of hours away, the air temperature began to plummet at a dramatic rate. The snow itself was cold Lucas noted but his body was still too numb from the encasement to feel it at present.  
He slowly began to pull his body into a sitting position. This took quite a few minutes and the dizziness that he had to fight when he had finally achieved it was very bad. He put his hand to his head and could feel a small patch of dried blood on his temple.  
  
"Come on Lucas, get on your feet now," he told himself. Somewhere in the back of his foggy brain a voice was reminding him of people freezing to death in just these sort of situations. The voice faded away again as the pain in his head became more noticeable over the top.  
  
Lucas now manoeuvred his sore limbs so that he was now kneeling on his hands and knees in the cold snow. He abruptly brought his right hand up in an attempt to take the weight off it. There was a wave of pain lancing through his shoulder blade from front to back at the moment and he could scarcely keep from vocalising his pain and discomfort. He chewed his bottom lip in order to prevent the cry of torment.  
  
After waiting several more seconds for the dizziness to subside and the throbbing in his shoulders ease a little to allow him to think more clearly, Lucas now used his good hand and arm as a lever against the trunk of the pine tree to help into a standing position.  
  
When he finally managed to pull himself into such a stance, the giddiness took on a whole new meaning and the swaying action of his body almost forced him to sit back down on the cold snow to prevent his inevitable collapse. It was only that he was holding on the tree now with force that stopped his descent and allowed him to remain upright.  
  
Now looking around himself as the world stopped spinning, he tried to get his bearings in order to try to get help for himself and the other boarders trapped under the snow. He was unaware that the search and rescue party were already on their way towards him.  
  
The blow to his head seem to disorient Lucas. Before the accident he had a good idea which direction the resort was in from the ski slopes, but now that self-made map was a little hazy around the edges.  
  
Lucas was talking to himself, trying to keep his mind focused on the job of finding help for the others. He knew that they needed to be rescued as soon as possible before nightfall came.  
  
Gingerly, Lucas now took two steps forward. He almost fell back to the snow again at the unsteadiness of his feet, but somehow he managed to stay erect. Not very well and he huddled his arms against his body as best he could to hold out the cold but he was still standing. The wrapping of his arms around his body against the cold only made the pain in his shoulder worse but he kept them around his chest as best he could.  
Lucas now took a few more small steps forward. He was grateful that there had been no heavy snowfall during the day today, which would have hampered his movement even more. As it was, the cold, his lack of strength and the pain he was feeling made it a most difficult task.  
  
Instead of heading back in the direction of the resort though, Lucas's foggy senses were leading him away from the very help he sort.  
  
After about 10 more minutes of walking in the wrong direction, battling the cold from all sides and beginning to feel numb again, Lucas's strength reserves ran out completely and he fell face first into the snow.  
  
The cold snow on his face made him lift his head briefly and look in the direction he had been walking. He knew he had to try and get up again. He was telling himself that he couldn't stay laying in the snow for very long. But his body just wouldn't obey him and he found his senses growing dim again as unconscious beckoned.  
  
With a few brief flutters of his eyelids, Lucas's head fell back on the snow. He was now unaware of any pain or cold that racked his body.  
  
************************************************************  
  
Back at the resort, Katie and Kristen had managed to make up the beds in the spare cabins liked they were asked. Ben had been given the task of sorting medical supplies that they might need once the missing snow-boarders had been located and returned.  
  
Bridger and the rest of the crew came to check on their progress and give them some updates on the weather that lay ahead for the night.  
  
"What is it looking like tonight Nathan?" Kristen asked as she refolded the same blanket she had already folded half a dozen times out of worry.  
  
"Not good I am afraid," Bridger said honestly. "We have only got a couple of more hours of daylight left before it will be too dark to see much. That in itself is of major concern if they can't find them very quickly up there."  
  
"But the thing that worries us the most is the storm that is fast approaching from the north," Tim O'Neill now said as he translated the images he had seen on the maps back at the communications office.  
  
Kristen looked at Nathan for further explanation as to what that meant for Lucas and the other missing skiers.  
  
"It's a very large storm. Andrew says they occur quite regularly up here at night but are normally gone by morning. Our main concern is finding those people before it gets in the way of the rescue effort." Bridger said, unable to hide the worry and mix of emotions that was plaguing his mind at the moment over Lucas.  
  
"And while we just sit here and rot, Lucas and those other people are freezing to death out there with little hope of finding them," Ben said in a angered voice, throwing a antiseptic dish across the room to show his frustration.  
  
Kristen and the others could see the Ben wasn't coping very well about Lucas missing. He was never one to hide his emotions, happy or sad or angry.  
  
"We just have to be ready if they ask for help Ben," Bridger said in a calming voice, trying to give the Lieutenant some hope that they might be used in the rescue operation.  
  
******************************************************  
  
As the stranger approached the motionless form laying in the snow, Lucas was still unconscious. Lucas was almost completely covered by snow by now as the stranger approached. The man had long white hair and long white beard.  
  
The man got off his skiddoo and walked over to the youth he could see in the snow. He was well equipped for the snow, with large thick black boots covering his feet and a pair of thick, warm trousers. The trousers were a little unusual in their red colouring and fur trimming around the cuffs of the legs, but they were just right for this wintry weather.  
  
Lucas was laying on his stomach, and his head was turned to the side. The man quickly brushed the snow off the teenager's face, and turned the young man over. He could see a deep bruise beginning to form over Lucas's temple; blood had flowed down the side of Lucas's face but was now dry.  
  
The winds of the approaching storm had picked up dramatically in the half an hour that Lucas lay in the snow undetected. It now ruffled his hair with vigour, making the boy's body shiver from the coldness it held.  
  
Quickly the man ran his hands over Lucas's arms and legs, and then felt the boy's ribs. "Nothing broken," the man said in satisfaction. He looked down at the unconscious figure. "But you're half frozen, ain't you, boy," he added.  
  
The man looked around, trying to spot some type of shelter. But the land was dotted only with boulders and trees. "Come on, boy," the man said. "We got to get you home. You have to spend Christmas with your loved ones," the stranger commented to the unconscious youth. The skiddoo was more than capable of carrying two passengers in the current conditions. It might not be the most comfortable method of transportation but it would get them to warmth and help faster. He gently now picked up the young man in a fireman's carry, trying not to jostle him to much for fear of any injuries that he might not have discovered yet. Lucas gave a few grunts of pains and moaned a little as the forced movement made his headache worse. But all in all, Lucas remained oblivious to what the man was trying to do to help him and his efforts to get him to shelter as quickly as possible. The stranger had noted the clouds in the sky that afternoon and many years on experience in these areas had told him of the storm that would approach the area very soon. He didn't need any of the electronic equipment that the SeaQuest crew or search party were relying on.  
  
The stranger had only been carrying Lucas on his craft for a few minutes when he remembered a cave in the distance that would suit their needs for the time being. It wasn't very big and it was mostly used by the local wild life such as deer and other furry critters to escape the bitter cold winds of the night.  
  
When they arrived at the spot, the man once again hoisted Lucas into a fireman's carry and took him into the stone structure, chiselled out of the rock in the mountain.  
  
With a sigh, the man laid Lucas gently back on the snow. He stood and walked a few feet away. Then he began digging into the snow. The boy was going to need a drink of water when he awoke to quench his thirst. Even though it was cold, the melting snow would be sufficient for their water needs for now.  
  
Within a few minutes, the man had hollowed out some of the snow inside the small cave. There was now enough room for both he and Lucas to fit comfortably to see the storm over. He prayed that the storm took longer to come and that he might be able to get the youth back to his family before the storm set in. He would have to keep a sharp eye on the clouds overhead and make a decision at the last moment.  
  
For now, the winds outside had picked up already in the last half an hour and he knew that the boy had a least some bumps and bruises that needed attending too while they waited out the approaching weather.  
  
The stranger now returned to the unconscious figure on the ground. The man picked up Lucas and carried him further into the snow cave. He set the injured young man gently on the floor of the cave, offering him some protection from the approaching storm and the buffeting winds that would result. He needed to get the boy warm as quickly as he could.  
  
Then the man walked a short distance to a few pine trees that were nearby. He returned to the cave a few minutes later, carrying an armful of branches and twigs he had broken of the lower limbs of the pine trees.  
  
Quickly he arranged the wood a foot or so from Lucas, then reached into the pocket of his brown coat. He pulled out a handful of matches. It took several tries, but the man finally got a small fire going. He slowly added branches to the fire, being careful not to smother it.  
  
Satisfied that the fire would blaze for awhile, he picked up a handful of snow and began cleaning the blood off Lucas's face. Almost half an hour passed before Lucas began to stir. Even with the heat from the fire, Lucas felt miserably cold. His teeth were chattering as he slowly opened his eyes. His vision was fuzzy. He saw a white haired man peering anxiously at him.  
  
"Captain?" Lucas asked.  
  
"No son, I don't know who he is," the figure answered. "But we'll get you home to him. How are you feeling?"  
  
Lucas tried to answer but he couldn't. His head ached and he seemed to hurt all over. But mostly he was cold, colder than he had ever been in his life. Lucas began to shiver.  
  
"Try and move your legs," the man said to the injured young man . Lucas tried. It seemed to take a lot of effort, but finally he managed to move both his legs.  
  
"Now your arms," the man ordered.  
  
Lucas moved his left arm. But he cried out when he tried to move his right.  
  
"Where's it hurt?" the man asked quickly.  
  
"Sh..sh..shoulder," Lucas managed to say through his chattering teeth.  
  
The man reached under Lucas's coat and felt the youth's shoulder. Lucas moaned at the pain the man's gentle touched caused him.  
  
"Bruised your shoulder quite a bit I'd say," the man commented. "It's painful but not serious. Once we get you home, you'll will be fixed up in no time. Doesn't look like you broke anything."  
  
Lucas nodded. Suddenly, he felt sleepy, and he started to close his eyes. He grunted in pain when he felt a hand gently shake him. "You have to try and stay awake young fella for a little while at least," the stranger said. He too knew all to well the dangers of succumbing to the inviting arms of sleep that you may not wake up from in these cold mountains.  
TO BE CONTINUED ........  
  
This one a little shorter but I am trying to give you the story as quickly as I can now. Only one more post and it should be finished.  
  
Have you worked out who the stranger is supposed to be yet - there are clues to his identity.  
  
Hope your enjoying it so far and keep reading.  
  
JULES 


	5. CHAPTER 5

THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENT  
By 8.00pm that night, there was good news and bad news for the resort.  
  
The search party had returned about twenty minutes earlier, happy to announce that the three of the missing snow-boarders that had been lost and trapped in the avalanche had been found.  
  
One of them had a broken ankle and the other two had minor injuries had suffered from exposure due to their prolonged stay underneath the snow.  
  
All three of them were currently being attended to by Kristen until the weather cleared up a little and they were able to be transported into Aspen by vehicle to the hospital for further and more complete treatment.  
  
The SeaQuest crew's hopes had soared to new heights when they learned that the search party had found survivors. That hope was quickly dashed though when they were told that the one they waited in earnest for was still unaccounted for.  
  
One of the searchers had been encouraging with the finding of Lucas's brightly coloured backpack and beanie. At least they had been searching in the right area. It was a bit unusual that he hadn't been found with the other boarders.  
  
The searcher handed Bridger the backpack and Beanie. For a moment, Nathan's hands were shaking, barely able to grab a hold of them. Why hadn't he been found near the others? There were so many questions running through his head at the moment and none of them seemed to be getting answers.  
  
Bridger had once again pleaded with the Manager of the resort to let some of the crew help the searchers for Lucas. He once again heard all the arguments about why Andrew couldn't let them go out there under any circumstances.  
  
The weather looked as though it may be lifting slightly. But the darkness was almost impenetrable and it made searching in the deep snow almost impossible.  
  
The SeaQuest crew now found themselves back in Bridger's cabin, sipping hot drinks to try and pass the unending hours of waiting for news about Lucas.  
  
Bridger got up with his almost empty mug and walked towards the window near the front door. He peered out through the frosted glass into the night sky. He had never felt so utterly useless as he did right now. He was supposed to be there for Lucas when he needed him. And now when Lucas needed him the most he wasn't able to get to him.  
  
Ben Krieg had tried to lighten the mood in the room and take everyone's mind off the search by trying his normal trait of bad humour. Not one of his jokes seemed even slightly funny to anybody and by about the third or fourth attempt he was getting threatening looks from the rest of the crew about what would happen to him if he continued.  
  
"How about we all open a present each?" Katie Hitchcock now said, trying an alternative to her ex-husband's poor attempt at satire. Everyone looked towards the forlorn figure of the Captain peering out window, waiting for his response to the idea.  
  
Bridger looked briefly back at the rest of the crew at the suggestion before his shoulder's slumped again in defeat and he went back to his vigil through the pane of glass. It was right about now that Kristen Westphalen could see that it was her turn to try and pull everyone out of their sense of hopelessness.  
  
"What would Lucas say if he seen you like this?" Kristen asked as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder when she spoke.  
  
"He probably wouldn't say anything," Bridger said in a voice devoid of any life or emotion.  
  
"Yes he would," Kristen said firmly, now making him turn and face her to hear what she had to say. "He would say stop feeling sorry for yourself to start with and then he probably would have a few choice words to say after that," she added.  
  
Bridger now turned to face Kristen and could see by the look in her eyes that what she was saying was true. Lucas would do exactly that and he would probably find the right look that would make everything seem okay again.  
  
Nathan now looked back at Katie and the rest of the crew who too had heard Kristen's words and now waited to see if he would take up the offer of present opening. It was a yearly tradition to open at least one present on Christmas Eve. They only had a few more hours before it would be Christmas Day.  
  
The crew now sat in a rough semi circle shape in the small living room area of the cabin and tried to focus their attention on what was happening in front of them rather than the thought of Lucas laying out in the cold snow.  
  
"You open the first one Kate, since it was your idea," Ben now suggested. Everyone nodded their heads. She was a girl after all and girls were supposed to go first anyway.  
  
Kate now reached under the tree that they had decorated the day before. Even looking at it now she couldn't help but be reminded of how Lucas had been there when they cut down the tree and then all of them sitting down making the decorations that now hung from the spindly branches.  
  
She chose a smallish package with her name on the tag. It was very beautifully wrapped in blue/silvery paper with a large blue and silver bow on top to match.  
  
"Oh Ben," Katie exclaimed as she looked on the tag to see who it was from. She tried to compose herself as best she could. The present just happened to be from Lucas.  
  
"Open it up babe and then you can have Lucas rouse on you when he gets back  
  
about opening it before Christmas day," Ben joked, trying to make Katie feel a little better about opening the gift from Lucas.  
Katie took quite a few minutes to carefully unwrap the gift. She wanted to be able to try and rewrap it again afterwards and put it back under the tree to open again the next day when Lucas would be there.  
  
It was the thought that Lucas would be back with them all by morning that she held onto the most. They just had to believe he was going to be alright, for his sake as well as their own peace of mind.  
  
"Oh it's just exquisite," Kate said out loud with a gasp as she now gazed upon the dainty little hand painted vase that Lucas had chosen for her. How had he found something so beautiful. The delicate pattern of flowers took her breath away. It must have been expensive too.  
  
"It really is lovely Kate," Kristen commented as Katie passed the vase to her for a closer look. All the men in the room didn't really know anything about vases, but they all noted that Lucas had chosen particularly well on this occasion.  
  
The next person to open would be Miguel.  
  
************************************  
  
Back in the snow cave, the stranger was becoming more worried about how to get his young companion home.  
  
Like Bridger, he too had been watching the weather outside over the last half an hour or so and noted the slowing in the winds. If he was going to make any attempt at all about getting the young man back home to his family, he had better start making a move right now.  
  
The stranger in the red trousers walked over to Lucas and gently tried to wake him. Keeping him awake had become more of a chore due to his pain and the bitterly cold weather. Lucas had lost the battle to stay awake about half an hour ago and had fallen into a fitful doze, laying on the cold floor of the cave.  
  
Lucas began to mumble incoherently at being gently jostled by his rescuer. At first he swatted the hands away that were trying to help him. All he wanted to do was to roll over and get more comfortable.  
  
It was only on his attempt to roll over that the pain in his shoulder re- ignited with force and he now groaned audibly at the sharp pain that couldn't be ignored. His good hand was immediately wrapped around his right arm, trying to reduce any movement that may cause more pain. He gritted his teeth and tried to pull himself in to a sitting position.  
  
About twenty minutes later, Lucas wasn't sure how the man managed to get him on the seat of the skiddoo. He knew he was dragged from the little warmth offered by the snow cave and into the snow encrusted wind. He groaned as he felt himself being lifted and pushed onto the long leather seat.  
  
Lucas leaned forward, clutching the front of the unfamiliar vehicle with his uninjured left hand. His right arm hung uselessly from his body. He wasn't sure he had the strength to hold onto the vehicle once it was in motion. He was still battling to stay awake and felt his head bowing forward and his eyelashes becoming frozen from the snow that was falling. The teenager now felt someone climbing on the skiddoo behind him. He could feel strong arms around his body as the man reached for the throttle and handle-bars. Lucas leaned back against the man. The body heat of the man behind him and the motor underneath his legs warmed the young man a bit. Joe felt the man's hand on his forehead for any signs of a fever. Finally Lucas's chin fell toward his chest as he drifted into darkness. His strength gave out completely due to the pain and the cold. The skiddoo made it's way across the snow fields towards the resort. The sound of it's engine humming into the blackness.  
  
***********************************************  
  
Back at the cabin, Miguel had already chosen his present from underneath the tree. Like Katie, he had chosen the gift Lucas had bought for him but it was the object's shape that initially caught his attention, not his name on the name tag or the face that the reverse side of the tag said from Lucas.  
  
This gift was elongated in shape. He had now unwrapped the paper and stared for a couple of minutes without saying anything as his eyes drank in the site before him.  
  
Now he turned the finely crafted sword over and over, looking at it from all directions to judge it's accuracy, straightness and overall weight. The hilt was very cleverly crafted and was made of the very best material. He didn't know how he was going to repay Lucas for such a thoughtful gift. He seemed to know just what would arouse his senses, both on a physical level by it's appearance and on an intellectual level with it's history and background.  
  
"I don't know what to say Captain, it's absolutely fantastic," Miguel now said after removing the sabre and looking at the steel blade. "I didn't even know he knew about my passion for swords," he added with curiosity. He couldn't remember having any in depth conversations with Lucas or around the teenager that would have given away his secret passion.  
  
"Lucas pays attention to a lot more things than we give him credit for Miguel," Bridger said. "He seems to know exactly what to buy you people anyway."  
  
Tim O'Neill was the next to open a present. With the gifts that Katie and Miguel had received from Lucas, the Lieutenant only thought it fitting that he too open his gift from Lucas. Especially when the hours seemed to be getting longer and longer as they waited news of his rescue or fate.  
  
Tim was delighted when he finally opened the lid of the box and saw the books on languages and bonsai. He never tired of increasing his vocabulary of the languages he was already fluent in or adding words to the ones he was only mediocre at speaking.  
  
The book on Bonsai would help him improve his plant specimens back on the boat and tell him which species he could grow and which would do poorly under the pressurized conditions of the sub-marine.  
Next, Kristen decided to open her gift from Lucas, and gasped in shock as Katie had done at the beauty of the two necklaces that Lucas had chosen for her. She knew that one necklace was for him and one for her. She wiped an indiscriminate tear out of the corner of her eye when she though the rest of the crew weren't looking.  
  
Tim O'Neill grinned a little as he watched the expression on Commander Jonathan Ford's face changed when he opened his present and spotted the fine bottle of alcohol. He had at least known what one of the presents Lucas had bought was. He had only done the monetary arrangements though, Lucas had taken care to pick out just the right vintage for the occasion.  
  
"I think I will have the first toast with Lucas and then the rest of you," Jonathan said honestly as he read the history on the label. "You should only drink a fine vintage like this one with fine friends," he said.  
  
Apart from Bridger, who everyone knew would go last, Ben was the only one left yet to open a present from Lucas. For quite a few minutes, Ben held the neatly wrapped package in his hand, and looked as though he might not open it at all.  
  
Krieg didn't feel quite right opening Lucas's present without his friend there to see his reaction to it. He didn't have a clue as to what the teenager had purchased for him, but judging by the looks and gasps from everyone else in the crew tonight, it would be something worth opening.  
  
Finally after looking back at the others and getting a slight nod of their head in encouragement and telling him that Lucas would be okay about them opening his presents before Christmas, Ben did open it. And like he assumed, he couldn't find the words at first to describe his amazement as Lucas's aptitude in knowing what they all would like.  
  
Inside of course was the silver watch Lucas had bought. It shone brightly as the light caught the edge of the face. It had the date, digital precision, a stop watch, and a few other little features that were signs of true quality workmanship.  
  
"Now I guess he will be asking me for the time every chance he gets when we get back to the boat," Krieg joked, almost unable to find words to describe how much he cared for the missing teenager.  
  
Bridger's present open was delayed slightly by a knock at the front door of the cabin. Nathan quickly got to his feet to answer it and found Andrew Smith standing in the cold doorway, obviously with something on his mind to tell the crew.  
  
"Hello Captain," Andrew said, trying to hide the cheerfulness in his voice as he was invited inside. He knew that he was not winning any popularity contests at the moment with Lucas still missing and what he was about to tell them would probably see him as the enemy even more so.  
  
"Looks like you have all decided to find a way to occupy yourselves tonight anyway," he commented as he saw opened Christmas presents on the table.  
  
"Have you got any news for us Mr Smith? Bridger asked, not wanting to waste precious time on greetings or small talk. He knew the rest of the crew felt the same way at the moment.  
  
"I won't hold you up any longer than I have to Captain," Andrew now said, knowing there was just no way to soften what he was about to say. "I am afraid that we have had to call off the search for a couple of hours, at least until dawn," he said, almost leaving the statement unfinished.  
  
"Call it off!!," Ben Krieg cried out in utter horror upon hearing the man. "Are you crazy or something, Lucas is still out there missing you jerk. We have to keep looking until we find him." Ben was now on his feet, shouting his demands at the resort manager.  
  
"I am sorry," Andrew said as he looked towards Ben, but the answer was meant for all in the room. "It's just too dark out there to see at the moment. The rescue team even took heavy lightening equipment up to the spot where Lucas was last seen, but even that isn't enough for the teams to mount any sort of rescue mission tonight. I promise, the team will get something hot to drink and eat and a short rest before heading out again at first light," he added, hoping his optimistic overtones would work.  
  
"Simmer down a little Ben," Bridger said as he tried to put a restraining arm on Krieg's jacket sleeve. "I am sure the rescue team are doing there best. It's not what we are hoping for at the moment, but they are still trying for Lucas."  
  
Bridger had never heard words that sounded so false before. Here he was trying to reassure Ben that everything would be alright by morning and he didn't even believe it himself.  
  
"This is not helping find Lucas," Ben shouted again and then went into the other cabin through the adjoining doorway, slamming it on the way in frustration.  
  
"I am sorry about that Mr Smith, Ben and Lucas are very close friends and we all feel pretty darn useless at the moment," Bridger apologized on everyone's behalf.  
  
"Don't worry about it Nathan, I wish there was more I could do, I truly do. I hope in hell that your young friend has found some shelter tonight and we find him safe and well very soon. I will let you know when the rescue team is ready to head out again. Good night all," Smith replied. The resort manager now left the SeaQuest to themselves again, leaving through the front door as he had come in.  
  
*******************************************************  
  
Outside, Lucas felt a hand gently shaking him. "Wake up, boy," a voice said. "You're almost home," the stranger said in his ear.  
  
Lucas attempted to rouse himself and opened his eyes to barely slits. He was surprised to see the resort buildings and his cabin looming ahead of them.  
  
Some of the buildings were bathed in darkness due to the time of night and were only dark outlines in the snow, but his own cabin and the one beside it was ablaze with lights.  
Lucas shook his head. He didn't remember giving the stranger directions to the cabin. or which resort for that matter . But then, the teenager didn't remember much of the ride from snow cave at all. He suppose that he must have forgotten that he told the man a general direction on how to find the resort.  
  
The stranger slowly guided the skiddoo past a few of the other cabin's. He stopped just short of Lucas's cabin and dismounted from the skiddoo.  
  
The stranger now helped Lucas off the snow vehicle. The teenager's knees buckled a bit but the man held him firm.  
  
"You think you can walk to the house?" the man asked.  
  
Lucas nodded. He was cold, and sore, and tired, but he felt he could walk the few feet to the front door of the cabin. Clenching his teeth, Lucas straightened and took a step.  
  
The youth staggered rather than walked but he made it to the door. He leaned his left shoulder against the door jamb and stood for a few minutes, breathing hard. Then he lifted the latch and pushed the door open.  
  
The SeaQuest crew inside the cabin had only just sat down to another cup of coffee, and hadn't been heard the skidoo's engine due to the wind outside. They almost dropped their mugs in shock as the front door suddenly opened without warning and a figure stumbled a few centimetres inside.  
  
"Lucas!" Bridger cried as the door opened.  
  
Lucas stood in the doorway, covered with snow. His right arm hung uselessly, and had a grimace of pain showing on his face. His skin had a bluish look and his teeth were chattering.  
  
Lucas tried to take a step forward, but his knees started to buckle again. "Help me!" Bridger shouted unnecessarily. Three of them were already rushing to the door. "Kristen, could you get him something hot to drink?" Ben said as he put his supportive arms around his young friend. "He's almost frozen," he commented to the others. The room was suddenly a hive of activity as everyone tried to do something to help. Tim took it upon himself to go find the resort manager, Andrew Smith to tell him what had just happened. Ben and Bridger slowly guided Lucas to the soft couch in the living room. The teenager moaned slightly as Ben eased him onto the chair, unintentionally bumping the boy's right shoulder against the hard back of the sofa. Miguel rushed to the front door and slammed it shut from. The door hadn't quite closed probably after Tim's departure to find the manager. Katie went into the bedrooms and began pulling blankets off them and carried them back into the living room. Kristen came rushing out of the kitchenette. "Here Nathan, try and get some of this hot coffee into him, quick. "Lace it with some of the brandy he bought me for Christmas," Jonathan now said to the doctor. For a few moments, she looked at him questioningly, wanting to know if he really wanted her to use his gift prematurely. A quick smile from the Commander along with a nod from his head signalling his agreement. Bridger now turned his full attention to Lucas. He slowly began to unbutton Lucas's parka. He had noted the teenager's moan and didn't want to hurt Lucas any more than he had to. Once the coat was open, Bridger began to slide it gently off Lucas's shoulders. Katie now handed the Captain two blankets. Bridger gave a quick word of thanks and then began wrapping the warm woollen cloth gently around Lucas's body. He took a third blanket from Katie and wrapped it around the boy's legs. Lucas was still shivering, but the spasms seemed less violent. The teenager laid his head against the arm rest of the couch and closed his eyes. Bridger took the white porcelain mug from Kristen. Steam was rising from the dark liquid in the mug. Gently he held it to Lucas's lips. "Come on, Lucas," he urged gently. "Drink this. It's will warm you up." Lucas's eyes opened slightly, no more than a slit. He began sipping the hot liquid and could feel the warmth flowing through him. For the first time in hours, Lucas felt the cold fading away. He drank eagerly from the cup held to his mouth. Then fatigue, the warmth of the blankets and the brandy all seemed to catch up with the young man all at once. As the cup was pulled away from his lips, Lucas drifted off to sleep. ***************************************** Lucas could hear the murmur of voices talking as he woke. He figured he must have been asleep for hours but it actually was only a fraction of that.. As he opened his eyes to see anxious faces staring at him. He was still wrapped in blankets, but Lucas also could feel his arm resting in a sling. He no longer felt cold. In fact, he was beginning to feel uncomfortably warm. Lucas shifted slightly on the couch. "Lucas?" Ben asked as he peered anxiously into his friend's face. "Hi Ben," Lucas answered with a weak smile. "What happened to you, Lucas?" Bridger asked. He was standing beside Kristen and Ben, his face a mixture of anxiety and relief. "I don't know really. I remember sitting on that seat under the tree and next thing I could see and hear was the whole mountain coming towards me. I tried to out run it but I just wasn't fast enough. Before long the snow caught up with me and I could feel myself being taken down the slope with the force of the avalanche," Lucas explained. "Guess I banged myself up some," he added with half-smile and grimace. "Well, you have a dislocated shoulder, and some bruises, but nothing is broken, " Kristen now said as she sat on the edge of the sofa and returned the smile. " I have given you a pain killer to help cope with your shoulder for the remainder of the night." Mr Smith was here an hour ago, the search party have all been sent home now for some much needed rest. The man could scarcely believe you had made you own way back here without any assistance. He promised to provide anything we need until we leave here tomorrow," Bridger said as he recalled the events. "As soon as you have rested a little more, I want to take you by vehicle into Aspen to have your shoulder looked at a little more. I bandaged it up as best as I could to prevent any movement. But an x-ray will rule out any underlying damage that I may have missed," Kristen said as she gave the teenager a run down on what was exactly wrong with him. Lucas nodded. "That's what he said," he answered remembering a little of what the stranger had said about his shoulder only being dislocated. "He?" Ben asked, a little curious at the teenager's mention of another person. When Lucas had stumbled through the door the night before, the young man had been totally alone. Hadn't he? "The man who brought me back here," Lucas said in answer to Ben's query. "What man?" Ford asked. Lucas now opened his eyes and looked around the room. He realized that there was no one there but the SeaQuest crew. "Where is he?" Lucas asked in a puzzled tone. "You asked him to stay, didn't you?" "Lucas, there wasn't anyone with you," Bridger said now worried that the boy may have suffered a blow to the head in addition to his other injuries. "I went out to get Mr Smith Lucas, there wasn't anyone else around," Tim O'Neill confirmed. Lucas looked a little dazed and shook his head. "I don't get it," he said. "That fellow found me and took care of me. He got me back here. Why wouldn't he stay around? Where would he go in that bad weather?" "What did he look like?" asked Ben found himself asking. "He was a heavy set man with white hair and a long white beard," Lucas answered. "He wearing red trousers," Lucas said, "And black boots" he added as he continued with the man's description. "Had a big black belt around his waist, too." "Wonder who he was?" asked Katie. "Probably some traveller nearby," Tim replied, trying to rationalise. Of course, everybody had an answer in their heads about who such a description matched. Red trousers, black boots, long white beard? It all sounded too much like a fairytale. "I don't think so," said Lucas. "I don't know who he was, but he wasn't any ordinary man." Lucas suddenly yawned. Bridger turned back to the injured youth. "We'd better get you up to bed," he said to the others. "We are leaving fairly early in the morning to get to Aspen and then stay over a night or two before heading back to the boat. Lucas looked across the room at the clock. "Hey, Captain," he said. "Look at the clock. It's after midnight. It's Christmas." "Merry Christmas, Lucas," Bridger said with a smile and gave the teenager a quick hug, trying not to jostle his injured shoulder too much in the process. "Merry Christmas, Everyone," added Kristen and then the other crew members joined in with their own season's greetings. "Did you open any presents for Christmas Eve?" Lucas said as his voice began to sound a little thick from the onset of sleep. "Come on, tell the truth, you all cheated didn't you?" he added, hoping secretly that they actually had done just that. Each of the crew member's told Lucas about their presents and how much they appreciated his thought into them. Bridger was the only one left to tell him about the gift he had received. Bridger promised himself that he would open the material gift Lucas had bought after they had all gotten some sleep. He was sure that the gift would be every bit as spectacular at the others. But right now he had the "perfect Christmas present" laying right in front of him. It was more than he could have wished for tonight. Bridger looked at each of the crew in turn, his eyes shining with love and happiness. "Merry Christmas," he said. "And it is going to be a Merry Christmas." "Let's get this young man to bed," Kristen now said, falling back into doctor mode once again. "He'll be up early enough tomorrow, looking for presents," she said with a mischievous wink. "I only do it because you all put me up to it," Lucas grumbled good naturedly. Lucas was now helped from the couch and guided him slowly into the bedroom to his bed. He was asleep again as his head touched the pillow. It was a fair guess that he wouldn't stir again for quite a few hours as his body tried to recover from the pain and the cold. As Bridger watched Kristen fuss over him and tuck the blankets around him again, he couldn't begin to express the relief and gratitude he felt that his son had been brought home. Christmas wishes, he thought, are powerful things. The Captain knew his Christmas prayers had been answered. *****************************************************  
  
Early the next morning, a very stiff and sore Lucas was loaded into one of the vehicles. He would travel with Bridger, Kristen and Ben to Aspen and a hospital just to recheck his shoulder and other injuries.  
  
Tim, Miguel, Katie and Jonathan Ford would remain behind with the other vehicle to secure everyone's belongings from both cabins and settle all outstanding matters with the resort manager before heading into Aspen themselves. A rendezvous point had been agreed on where they would all meet up once Lucas had been attended to.  
  
On the trip to Aspen, the rules had changed slightly and although Ben sat in the back seat with Lucas, he let the teenager have as much room as he wanted to stretch out.  
  
Even after being wrapped in blankets all night, Lucas couldn't hide the fact that he still felt a chill in his bones from his ordeal out in the snow. He fell asleep again as soon as the vehicle began moving, his minder Ben sitting beside him, determined to make sure he was okay while he slept.  
  
About lunch time that day, the crew had finally met up once again. The hospital had praised Kristen's first aid skills with the other snow-boarders and relayed that although two of them would remain in hospital for a day or so, they all would make excellent recoveries and have no permanent injuries to speak of.  
  
Lucas had undergone an x-ray on his shoulder, but was relieved to find out that lots of rest and continual immobility over a fortnight would see his arm heal nicely.  
  
Bridger had rented a suite at one of the motels in Aspen, large enough for all of them. They had agreed only to stay one more night and then make arrangements to start heading back to SeaQuest the day after. Being Christmas day they had a sumptuous Christmas lunch ordered in by room service so Lucas didn't have to move too much.  
  
By mid afternoon, everyone was very full from over-eating and ready to curl up like big carpet snakes and have an afternoon nap. The day seemed to be a blur due to going to the hospital and all of the other running around they had done earlier.  
  
It was right about now that Bridger decided to open his Christmas gift from Lucas and the crew wanted to give the teenager his.  
  
Bridger had his breath taken away by the telescope that Lucas had bought. Even looking at it, the crew knew that the Captain's gift had cost a lot more than all of their's put together. It was exquisite in every sense of the word and he promised to look after it and treasure it always. He hoped that he could spend some long nights showing Lucas just how it worked and what to look for up in the heavens.  
  
Once the crew had suspected how much money in total Lucas had spent on them  
  
all, they were very happy about the decision they had made about what to get Lucas together.  
  
As Lucas opened the small rectangular package, inside he found a very fine leather wallet, carved with a very large looking caribou on the front cover. The smell of the leather was very aromatic and Lucas found himself saying thank you over and over again.  
  
It wasn't until he was asked to look inside that he was even more surprised. Inside was cash, to the value of $1000.00. The crew knew that Lucas must have just about used all of his bank account to pay for their gifts, especially the Captain's. So they had all chipped in the money they originally intended to spend and Kristen and Bridger had added an extra bonus for the teenager.  
  
******************************************************  
  
About 6.00pm that night when everyone was relaxing in the suite's living room, the topic about how to return to SeaQuest had been raised once again.  
  
Lucas was laying down on a couch, resting his head on a pillow. Bridger sat beside him, cramped up on one end, but he didn't mind in the least. The rest of the crew sat around the other chairs to discuss the possibilities.  
  
"I hope we don't have to fly again," Lucas said in a slurred voice. He had been given another dose of pain killer and was well on his way to sleep again when the conversation began. He knew he didn't stand much of a chance of a say but voiced his fears about flying anyway.  
  
"I am afraid there might not be much choice about that Lucas," Kristen replied. She fully understood the teenager's request and his fears about flying. They had all witnessed his appearance on the way to Aspen. But she had to think of his current injuries as well at the moment, especially his shoulder.  
  
The trip would take the best part of three or four days if they decided to travel by road and the roughness of some of the bitumen roads would certainly jostle and jar Lucas's shoulder around much more than she would like. He would experience more discomfort by that mode of transport and apart from flying, their other methods of transport with the snow were quite limited at this time of year.  
  
"And if you think I am going to spend another day with Ben and Lucas sitting in the back bickering like five year olds, you have got another thing coming," Kristen said in mock sternness.  
  
"Me !!!!!," Ben exclaimed loudly. "What about him?" he said, pointing to Lucas who had his eyes closed on the couch.  
  
"It was you that took up all the room anyway Ben," Lucas hurled back at his friends, his eyes still closed, but the signs of a grin on his face unmistakable.  
  
"What about when we came here today, you had all the room again Lucas," Ben taunted the youth. The rest of the crew were laughing heartily at the antics between the two friends who were obviously out to stir Kristen all over again.  
  
At the end of the day, they all knew, including Lucas that flying back would be the quickest and most comfortable of all choices. At least after a few hours, Lucas could be back in his own bed aboard SeaQuest and wouldn't have to worry about anymore travelling for quite some time except under the waves.  
  
Ben on the other hand, had another idea about just where the crew could head to next. "Say Captain, where are you taking us all on the next vacation?" he jibed at his Commanding Officer.  
  
"Next time Ben, you have to be kidding," Jonathan Ford and Katie Hitchcock voiced together. The crew now looked over at Bridger who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts for a few seconds.  
  
Bridger knew that Ben was digging at him but decided to play along with his little game. After this disastrous vacation to the snow, he thought that maybe in twelve months or so the crew would deserve a holiday again. Somewhere where crew members wouldn't go missing or get hurt.  
  
"Where did you have in mind Lieutenant?" Bridger asked both in fun and out of curiosity for a future destination idea for next time.  
  
Ben's eyes and face lit up with a wide grin at the Captain's question. He had been thinking long and hard about where they should all go next.  
  
"I was thinking Captain," he began, dragging it out for the rest of the crew as long as he possibly could. "I don't mean you will be footing the bill next time. We can all chip in and pay for the trip. But now that we have seen snow and ice, we should head somewhere a little warmer." "A little warmer?" Tim asked cautiously, knowing that wherever Ben had on his mind couldn't be considered a good holiday destination, could it?  
  
"A whole lot warmer Tim my friend," Ben said as he slapped the young communications officer heartily on the back. "AFRICA" he then said.  
  
"Africa," the crew said in unison. Actually Ben's choice didn't sound entirely too bad at all.  
  
"Africa?" came the sleepy voice from Lucas. "But that means we have to fly again," he commented with a groan and rolled over onto his side, drifting of to sleep properly this time.  
  
"No Lucasman, I promise you, we can go by boat or something," Ben said cheerfully to his slumbering audience.  
  
"Africa," Kristen said as she thought of all the vaccinations and medications they would need before, during and after visiting such a country.  
  
"Africa," Miguel pondered as he thought of all the wonderful wildlife safari's he could join and all the different sorts of wild animals he could see on the reserves.  
  
"Africa," Katie whispered. Her thoughts were too of animals that she would see, but rather the ones that she would rather leave alone and not know about.  
  
"Africa," Tim repeated and immediately started going through his head at the languages he would need to brush up on before they went.  
  
"Africa," Jonathan Ford grimaced as he tried not to think of the amount of equipment and supplies that would be needed even just for a short trip. He must admit, it was one country he hadn't been to yet.  
  
"Africa," Bridger thought to himself. It actually sounded like a really good idea to him as he adjusted the blanket around Lucas's shoulders.  
THE END OF THE HOLIDAY ......  
  
Authors Notes: Thanks for being so patient and understanding about how long I took to write this story. I know it's way past Christmas and even Easter. My daughter was hospitalised over Easter so it's been only now that I have had a chance to finish it.  
  
For those who didn't quite pick up on the clues or even the ones who did - the stranger was supposed to be Santa Claus.  
  
As for the Africa thing, well a few might have known that I have been planning this story for quite a few months. It won't be written just yet. Have a few others to finish first but I am really looking forward to writing that one.  
  
Unfortunately for Lucas, the next holiday will be even worse than Aspen. AFRICA intends to be all Lucas angst and hurt Lucas and Lucas being chased by baddies with guns and rifles and wild animals.  
  
Hope you keep reading the stories.  
  
JULES 


	6. CHAPTER 6

THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENT  
  
Just a quick note to apologize for the spacing in the last chapter. I had to put this up afterwards because I have tried a dozen times to alter the spacing on Chapter 5 but it still stays the same.  
  
I realise it makes it difficult to read the middle part of this Chapter but I hope you will believe that I have tried to do my best to make the changes.  
  
I didn't do anything differently this time than any other story - the spacing altered during the uploading.  
  
Again I apologize and I hope it won't baulk you from reading the story.  
  
THANKS JULES 


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